HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Management and Services of the House of Commons Review

Frank Doran: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what the Commission has decided on the implementation of the Tebbit review of management and services of the House.

Nick Harvey: In July the Commission agreed to fast track several areas of the Tebbit Review as detailed in my answer on 24 July 2007 (HC Deb 925W). Following the debate in Westminster Hall on 18 October and comments from the Finance and Services, Administration and Audit Committees, the Commission approved the following changes on 22 October.
	A new Management Board replaced the existing Board of Management with immediate effect. The Management Board consists of the Clerk, as Chief Executive and Chairman, four director generals with functional responsibilities, and up to two external advisers. The six House Departments other than PICT will be merged into four new Departments broadly aligned with the Director Generals' responsibilities. These will be:
	Department of Chamber and Committee Services—incorporating Clerk's Department,  Hansard and core elements of the Serjeant's Department;
	Department of Information Services—incorporating the Library and allied information services;
	Department of Resources—incorporating Finance and Administration;
	Department of Facilities—incorporating Estates and Works, Accommodation Services and Refreshment Department.
	These new Departments will come into effect on 1 January 2008. A recruitment exercise to fill the new post of Director General of Facilities will be put in place. Pending an appointment, the Commission has agreed that the Director of Catering Services will lead the work to create the new Department of Facilities.
	PICT will be formally vested as joint Department of the two Houses early in 2008. Pending a review in 2009 of the working of the Parliament (Joint Departments) Act 2007, the Director of PICT will attend the Management Board as one of its external members.
	The aim is to create a fully unified House Service that will provide Members and others with the highest standards of service. The changes are consistent with the approach recommended in the Tebbit report, but also address a number of issues on which the report did not reach a firm conclusion. The intention is that the changes will be cost neutral and there are no planned redundancies. I understand that consultation has begun with both staff and trade unions on how best to create the new Departments.

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards: Public Appointments

George Young: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what progress has been made by the Commission in nominating a candidate for the post of Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

Nick Harvey: The Commission's report recommending to the House Mr. John Lyon CB, currently the Director General of Legal and Judicial Services in the Ministry of Justice, is being published today at 11 am as House of Commons Paper 1096. Copies are available from the Vote Office. It is expected that the recommendation will be put to the House for approval in early November.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Departments: Correspondence

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what guidance his Department follows on the maximum time taken to respond to hon. Members' correspondence; and what performance against that target was in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the Cabinet Office answer on 22 October 2007,  Official Report, column 45W.

Guatemala: Children

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to help tackle the problem of violence against street children in Guatemala.

Shahid Malik: In Guatemala between 2004-05 DFID contributed $150,000 through the InterAmerican Development Bank to NGOs working with street children. This funding provided education, psycho-social care and work opportunities.
	The British Embassy in Guatemala City has supported many local NGO projects on child rights including a sustainable training programme for police officers in the city centre. This aims to improve officers' dealings with street children, ensure the inclusion of child rights in the Police Academy training curriculum and encourage efforts to bring child abusers to justice.

Overseas Aid: Forestry

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much support the UK made available to help developing countries with forestry programmes and reafforestation projects in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07; and what proportion of the (i) total international development budget and (ii) UK bilateral aid each figure represented in each year.

Gareth Thomas: In 2005-06 £15 million of DFID bilateral expenditure was spent directly on forestry programmes. This represented 0.35 per cent. of the total DFID programme and 0.62 per cent. of the bilateral programme in 2005-06. In 2006-07 a further £15 million of DFID bilateral expenditure was spent directly on forestry programmes representing 0.31 per cent. of the total DFID programme and 0.60 per cent. of the bilateral programme in that year. These figures do not include spending on forestry programmes funded by partner governments to whom we provide budget support, nor do they include spending through the multilateral system to which we also contribute.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Academies: Finance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many academies opened  (a) before and  (b) after September 2005 have exceeded budgets for (i) new buildings and (ii) start up costs;
	(2)  what percentage of academies opened since September 2005 have exceeded budgets for  (a) new buildings and  (b) start up costs;
	(3)  what the average amount is by which academies opened since September 2005 have exceeded original budgets for  (a) new buildings and  (b) start up costs.

Jim Knight: There are now 83 academies open. Up to and including September 2005, 27 academies were opened, with the remaining 56 academies opening between September 2006 and September 2007 (inclusive). Of the 27 academies which opened up to and including September 2005, 16 (59 per cent.) have exceeded their budgets for new buildings. Of the 56 academies opening between September 2006 and September 2007 (inclusive), 13 (23 per cent.) have exceeded their budgets for new buildings. For those academies opened between September 2006 and September 2007 (inclusive) that have exceeded their original budgets for new buildings, the average overspend is £3,850,536(1).
	Academies are allocated fixed budgets to cover start up costs, which they are free to apply as they see fit. There are two types of start up grant. The first is intended to cover expenditure to acquire a basic stock of books and equipment. All academies are paid this grant by a formula which is based mainly on pupil numbers.
	The second is paid to meet costs arising in the first years of an academy and comprises two elements, one of which is allocated by formula and the other, for which academies must bid, to cover exceptional transitional costs.
	(1) The number and percentage of academy building projects exceeding their agreed budgets for buildings, and the average overspend is subject to change, as not all open academy building projects have been completed.

Academies: Governing Bodies

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will take steps to increase local authority representation on the governing bodies of academies, with particular reference to cases where the authority is a sponsor.

Jim Knight: All academies have at least one local authority representative on their governing body. Where the local authority is a co-sponsor, the lead sponsor retains majority control over the Academy Trust, but can appoint two local authority appointed governors to the governing body.

Literacy: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of children met the Government's literacy and numeracy targets in each London borough in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The following tables set out the percentage of pupils in each London borough achieving the target level 4 and above at key stage 2, and level 5 and above at key stage 3 in English and in maths for each year since 2002. The underlying numbers can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Percentage of pupils achieving level 4 or above in KS2 tests 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			   English  Maths  English  Maths  English  Maths  English  Maths  English  Maths 
			  London GOR 73 72 76 72 77 73 79 74 80 75 
			
			  City of London 93 89 97 79 80 73 83 74 64 71 
			
			  Inner London boroughs 68 68 72 68 74 70 76 71 77 72 
			 Camden 72 70 78 74 77 73 79 73 75 72 
			 Hackney 65 65 63 59 70 65 69 64 71 64 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 74 76 79 76 77 73 79 74 81 74 
			 Haringey 65 66 67 66 70 67 73 68 75 70 
			 Islington 68 67 69 68 71 68 74 68 74 68 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 80 79 84 79 87 82 84 81 85 80 
			 Lambeth 67 67 72 67 76 70 76 68 78 70 
			 Lewisham 69 66 73 69 73 70 77 72 79 71 
			 Newham 63 68 68 67 71 70 75 72 76 72 
			 Southwark 66 62 70 62 69 64 72 67 74 69 
			 Tower Hamlets 70 67 74 71 77 75 78 76 80 78 
			 Wandsworth 73 72 75 67 75 71 80 72 78 73 
			 Westminster 77 77 80 77 82 77 81 76 84 76 
			
			  Outer London boroughs 75 74 78 73 79 75 80 76 81 76 
			 Barking and Dagenham 69 73 71 69 73 71 75 70 74 73 
			 Barnet 81 79 81 78 84 81 84 81 85 82 
			 Bexley 75 72 77 69 79 71 80 74 81 75 
			 Brent 74 75 77 72 78 74 78 73 79 73 
			 Bromley 80 77 83 78 83 78 84 77 85 79 
			 Croydon 74 71 78 71 79 74 78 72 81 75 
			 Ealing 74 74 77 73 78 73 79 75 79 75 
			 Enfield 73 74 78 72 77 73 77 73 79 72 
			 Greenwich 68 66 70 67 70 68 73 68 74 71 
			 Harrow 80 79 82 77 84 80 82 78 85 79 
			 Havering 80 78 80 78 81 78 85 81 84 80 
			 Hillingdon 78 77 80 75 79 77 80 77 81 77 
			 Hounslow 71 71 76 73 77 73 79 75 80 77 
			 Kingston upon Thames 80 77 83 77 85 80 86 82 86 82 
			 Merton 73 68 75 66 75 72 78 74 81 75 
			 Redbridge 78 75 78 74 79 77 83 79 82 78 
			 Richmond upon Thames 84 83 87 82 87 83 88 85 89 85 
			 Sutton 80 78 81 77 80 76 83 78 83 79 
			 Waltham Forest 66 65 70 68 73 69 73 69 77 72 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage of pupils achieving level 5 or above in KS3 tests 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			   English  Maths  English  Maths  English  Maths  English  Maths  English  Maths 
			  London 64 63 66 67 70 70 74 71 73 75 
			
			  Inner London — — 58 59 63 62 68 65 68 70 
			 Camden 66 63 68 65 73 70 76 72 75 76 
			 Hackney 45 48 59 52 59 56 60 58 64 65 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 60 59 62 67 64 67 73 73 77 77 
			 Haringey 56 52 52 55 59 58 65 62 61 64 
			 Islington 51 50 49 57 55 59 64 61 61 64 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 72 69 79 72 80 76 81 76 87 84 
			 Lambeth 59 55 61 62 69 66 71 65 72 71 
			 Lewisham 58 54 60 60 64 64 66 65 70 70 
			 Newham 56 53 55 60 63 62 67 66 64 68 
			 Southwark 50 46 51 52 63 58 66 59 66 65 
			 Tower Hamlets 51 49 54 55 57 58 67 61 65 68 
			 Wandsworth 64 60 62 63 68 67 73 70 71 73 
			 Westminster 62 61 69 65 68 68 76 69 69 74 
			
			  Outer London — — 69 71 74 74 76 74 75 77 
			 Barking and Dagenham 58 58 62 61 65 65 66 66 67 70 
			 Barnet 72 72 73 76 78 78 82 80 81 82 
			 Bexley 66 69 71 73 75 77 76 74 74 77 
			 Brent 64 66 64 66 70 72 73 74 74 76 
			 Bromley 76 72 73 76 80 77 80 79 80 82 
			 Croydon 65 65 66 68 70 72 75 71 73 74 
			 Ealing 60 61 68 69 73 72 75 72 73 76 
			 Enfield 64 65 67 68 70 71 72 72 71 74 
			 Greenwich 54 54 61 61 63 60 67 63 68 68 
			 Harrow 75 73 71 75 76 77 82 79 80 81 
			 Havering 74 76 72 76 81 79 80 81 79 81 
			 Hillingdon 67 64 65 73 71 74 74 73 70 76 
			 Hounslow 64 64 71 68 70 71 76 71 76 77 
			 Kingston upon Thames 74 78 79 80 80 83 80 83 84 84 
			 Merton 62 62 65 67 66 68 75 71 67 71 
			 Redbridge 75 74 75 76 78 79 82 80 81 83 
			 Richmond upon Thames 72 70 74 72 77 75 75 73 80 79 
			 Sutton 81 78 75 79 83 82 84 82 86 87 
			 Waltham Forest 60 57 60 62 68 66 74 67 70 71

Schools: Finance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of funding for schools is largely unrelated to school numbers; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer given on 23 July 2007,  Official Report, column 880W.

HOME DEPARTMENT

101 Calls

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on plans for the future of the 101 number.

Tony McNulty: A decision on the 101 single non-emergency number will be made shortly.

Asylum: Aviation

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  which airlines the Government have used for the return of failed asylum seekers to their country of origin;
	(2)  which airlines have refused to carry failed asylum seekers from the UK to their country of origin.

Liam Byrne: It is not the policy of the Border and Immigration Agency to disclose such information.

Drugs: Misuse

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research her Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the effect of reclassifying drugs on their production, supply and use.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Department undertakes and evaluates several surveys in order to monitor levels of illegal drug production, supply and use. These are not predicated on the ABC classification system but where they are drug specific, any changes are closely monitored following a drug's reclassification. Relevant published research is also routinely considered.

Foreign Workers

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 September 2007,  Official Report, columns 2159-61W on foreign workers, if she will give a break down by nationality of  (a) work permit holders with leave to enter for employment for 12 months or more and their dependants and  (b) work permit holders with leave to enter for employment for less than 12 months and their dependants.

Liam Byrne: Copies of the table containing the requested figures for 1995 to 2006 have been placed in the Library.
	Information for earlier years can be found in the Command Papers entitled "Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom" for those years, also from the Library.

Human Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many trafficked women and children have been discovered since the launch of Operation Pentameter 2; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: Figures on the number of trafficking victims recovered will be published at the end of Operation Pentameter 2.
	We shall not be releasing any interim figures during the period of this operation whilst we carry out the process of identification of victims. To issue interim figures in these circumstances may be misleading.

Human Trafficking

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures were taken to ascertain whether the workers arrested in the Immigration Service raids on restaurant businesses in central London on 11 October 2007 were victims of trafficking and forced labour; what  (a) counselling and  (b) other assistance is available to any such workers who are identified as victims of trafficking and forced labour; and what measures are taken to ensure that any such workers are not placed in a situation where they might be vulnerable to recycling as forced labourers by the trafficking gangs.

Liam Byrne: 49 migrant workers were arrested on 11 October in central London on suspicion of committing immigration offences. Current operational procedures require all those arrested to be interviewed to establish their identity and their current immigration status. If there is a suspicion of illegal entry then further detailed questions may be asked in relation to their route and method of entry and if they were assisted.
	All the individuals arrested were questioned by Border and Immigration Agency officials as to their route of entry to the UK, and given the opportunity to obtain legal representation.
	Any evidence or intelligence that leads to facilitators or traffickers will be vigorously pursued. In particular the Border and Immigration Agency is examining the role of the employers in all this to identify whether further offences have been committed.

Land: Security

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers are available to the police and local authorities to compel landowners to take appropriate steps to secure land in order to prevent it from being used for antisocial and criminal purposes.

Vernon Coaker: I understand that police do not have such powers. Local authority powers are the responsibility of the Department of Communities and Local Government.

Metropolitan Police: Emergency Calls

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many calls were handled by the Metropolitan Police emergency call system in each month for which records are available;
	(2)  how long on average a caller to the Metropolitan Police emergency call system must wait before being answered.

Tony McNulty: This is a matter for the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis.

Metropolitan Police: Eyesight

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to provide access to appropriate  (a) tests and  (b) laser eye surgery for members of the Metropolitan Police Service in (i) firearms and (ii) other sections of the force.

Tony McNulty: This is a matter for the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis.

Official Hospitality

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost was to public funds of the event held for the Immigration Minister in Essex on 16 October.

Liam Byrne: On 16 October 2007, the Immigration Minister visited Stansted Airport to meet Border and Immigration Agency staff to discuss local operations and view the more visible Border controls at the port. The Minister then visited Burnt Mill Comprehensive School in Harlow where he spent an hour with some of the children from Years 9-11 to discuss immigration issues, hosted by the school's citizenship teacher. The Minister also made a speech at the school to local stakeholders on immigration policy. The costs to the Home Office were negligible, comprising travel and subsistence for officials travelling on the day from London.

Police

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the likely police deployment in 2008.

Tony McNulty: The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for each chief constable.

Police Stations

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police stations there were in each police force area in each year since 1997; and how many  (a) opened and  (b) closed in each year.

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many police stations are in use in each parliamentary constituency;
	(2)  how many police stations were in use in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The management of the police estate and allocation of resources are matters for each police authority and the Chief Officer, who are responsible for assessing local needs.

Police: Brent

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps her Department has taken to recruit more police in Brent; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how many unfilled police vacancies there are in each London borough.

Tony McNulty: This is a matter for the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis.

Police: Bureaucracy

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average period of time was for a police officer to process an arrest in  (a) 1983,  (b) 1992,  (c) January 1997,  (d) 1998,  (e) each year since 2003 and  (f) the most recent date for which information is available.

Tony McNulty: This information is not collected centrally.

Police: Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of police funding for each police authority in England and Wales was spent at  (a) central and  (b) divisional level in each of the last 10 years, listed in descending order according to level of central spending.

Tony McNulty: The allocation of resources within each force is a matter for the chief officer and the police authority.

Police: Firearms

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times police armed response units were deployed in the northern division of Cambridgeshire Constabulary in each year since 1997; and how many and what percentage of these incidents resulted in a police officer discharging their weapon.

Tony McNulty: The information is not available centrally in the form requested. The number of operations involving armed response vehicles (ARVs) in the Cambridgeshire Constabulary is shown in the following table. We do not collect statistics by force division. The overall number of incidents where a conventional firearm was used in England and Wales, is also shown.
	
		
			  Number of operations involving armed response vehicles (ARVs)—Cambridge Constabulary 
			   Number 
			 1996-97 23 
			 1997-98 19 
			 1998-99 27 
			 1999-2000 54 
			 2000-01 36 
			 2001-02 43 
			 2002-03 45 
			 2003-04 155 
			 2004-05 172 
			 2005-06 160 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of incidents where conventional firearms were used by police, England and Wales 
			   Incidents  Percentage of incidents compared with number of authorised operations 
			 1996-97 5 0.040 
			 1997-98 3 0.025 
			 1998-99 5 0.046 
			 1999-2000 7 0.064 
			 2000-01 9 0.081 
			 2001-02 11 0.079 
			 2002-03 10 0.067 
			 2003-04 4 0.024 
			 2004-05 5 0.031 
			 2005-06 9 0.048

Police: Informers

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by each police force on police informants in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 October 2007
	Spending on informants is an operational matter for each chief officer and police authority in the light of their budget provisions.

Protest: Animal Experiments

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the impact on levels of investment in research and development of the activity of animal rights extremists in England and Wales in the past 10 years; and if she will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: Although exact figures are not available, the statistics that are collected for pharmaceutical research and development in the UK started to decline from 2002 when the ARE activity was at its height.
	The Government takes seriously the illegal activities of animal rights extremists aimed at discouraging investment in the UK. We have in place a robust interdepartmental strategy to eradicate the threat. The strategy is centred on an improved law enforcement approach, with additional resources provided to the police to tackle animal rights extremism, a central team set-up to drive forward police action nationally, and legislation enacted to protect animal research organisations. The strategy has led to a significant fall in illegal extremist activity.

Protest: Cenotaph

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to amend the law so as to allow protests against war in the vicinity of the Cenotaph.

Tony McNulty: Protests in the vicinity of the Cenotaph are already allowed. As the Cenotaph falls within the designated area around Parliament, organisers of static demonstrations are required to notify their intention to demonstrate to the Commissioner in advance. The Commissioner must authorise any demonstration which is notified to him in advance. Marches are subject to prior notification under section 11 of the Public Order Act 1986.
	We announced in the Green Paper "The Governance of Britain" in July that we would review the provisions that govern the right to protest in the vicinity of Parliament. We shall be consulting widely with a view to ensuring that people's right to protest is not subject to unnecessary restrictions. The consultation will begin very shortly.

Scouts and Guides

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many scouts from overseas due to attend the World Scouting Jamboree in August 2007 in Hylands Park, Chelmsford,  (a) disappeared during the course of the Jamboree and  (b) failed to turn up to the Jamboree after having entered the UK;
	(2)  how many scouts from overseas who were due to attend the World Scouting Jamboree in August in Hylands Park, Chelmsford, applied for political asylum since 28 July.
	(3)  what action has been taken by  (a) the Border and Immigration Agency and  (b) the police to track down those overseas scouts who entered the UK to attend the World Scouting Jamboree in August in Hylands Park, Chelmsford, and failed to turn up to the Jamboree or disappeared during the course of the Jamboree.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 8 October 2007
	A number of overseas scouts attending the World Scouting Jamboree would have made an application for entry clearance to enter the United Kingdom. They would have been issued with visitor visas for the standard six month period.
	The information requested regarding how many scouts from overseas disappeared or did not arrive at the World Scouting Jamboree event is not collected by the Border and Immigration Agency because no Immigration offences were committed.
	The Border and Immigration Agency cannot confirm how many overseas scouts claimed asylum as we do not comment on individual cases.
	Essex police have confirmed that a total of 11 scouts are missing and they are actively trying to locate them. All referrals from the police to The Border and Immigration Agency relating to the overseas missing scouts have been investigated and all individuals continue to have valid entry clearance and are in the United Kingdom legally. As such, this is an ongoing police matter.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Departments: Publicity

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what his Department's projected spending is on advertising and promotional campaigns for  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09, broken down by cost relating to (i) television, (ii) radio and (iii) print media.

David Lammy: The Department is planning an advertising and promotional campaign for student support in 2007-08. The advertising and publicity budget allocated to this programme is £4.5 million of which £1,777,776 will be spent on advertising and promotion. The costs following have been broken down as requested.
	
		
			   Projected spend (£) 
			 Television 1,145,813 
			 Radio 374,173 
			 Print 257,790 
		
	
	It is not possible to provide figures for 2008-09. Budgets will not be agreed until communications priorities and objectives for 2008-09 have been finalised and planning (informed by evaluation of 2007-08 activity) has been completed.

Graduates: Higher Education

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  if he will commission an assessment of the benefits to  (a) individual students,  (b) businesses and  (c) the economy of graduates completing second degrees; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what advice is provided to graduates on the  (a) merits and  (b) mechanics of pursuing a second degree; and whether guidance is available on the choice of subject.

Bill Rammell: We have asked HEFCE to phase out the support it gives to institutions for students doing a second degree at an equivalent or lower level in order to redistribute around £100 million a year by 2010/11 towards our priorities. While there may be some benefit to individuals, and their employers, in them retraining for a second qualification at the same level, it is generally fairer to both students and the taxpayer to give priority to those either entering higher education for the first time, or progressing to higher qualifications. All of the £100 million will be redistributed to support our priorities, including the challenges posed by Sandy Leitch around the proportion of the work force with graduate level skills from under 30 per cent. to over 40 per cent. by 2020. At the same time, we also published details of these changes and the rationale for them so that prospective students both with and without existing Higher Education qualifications can plan ahead in the knowledge of our priorities.

Laboratories: Security

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which pathogens acting on  (a) human and  (b) animals are considered to be viable terrorist bioweapons; and what (i) guidance and (ii) security conditions are given to sites storing or studying such cultures.

Tony McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
	There is a wide range of pathogens which could be considered as potential bioweapons. Guidance on hazardous pathogens and toxins, including security considerations is included within the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act (2001). Pathogens (or derivatives) are covered under schedule 5, Order 2007 while security considerations are covered in part 7 of the Act.

Students: Loans

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many loanees are making repayments to the Student Loans Company.

Bill Rammell: In March 2007 there were 253,200 English domiciled income-contingent borrowers repaying their loans. There were 154,300 mortgage-style borrowers ahead or up to date with repayments. In addition a number of mortgage-style borrowers classed as in arrears may have made repayments that did not bring their accounts up to date.

Students: Loans

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many cases of delays in repayment of loans by graduates who have reached the earning threshold for repayment there have been in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The information requested is not held centrally.

Disease Control: Research

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when Government research facilities handling animal pathogens for which his Department is responsible have had their drainage systems  (a) inspected and  (b) risk assessed since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
	The drainage systems of laboratories licensed by DEFRA to handle specified animal pathogens under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order (SAPO) 1998 are not routinely inspected, nor is this a condition of a SAPO licence.
	However, following the recent outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD), DEFRA and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have issued a safety alert to all SAPO Category 3 and 4 laboratories. The alert relates to issues arising from the independent reviews carried out by Professor Spratt and the HSE into potential breaches of biosecurity at the Pirbright site. It requires all such laboratories to satisfy themselves that their facilities and procedures address all the issues identified by Professor Spratt and the HSE. DEFRA and the HSE will also undertake a programme of inspection at all SAPO Category 3 and 4 laboratories. SAPO licences for those laboratories have also been amended to make clear their responsibilities towards biosecurity.
	In addition, we have commissioned a review of the regulatory framework for animal pathogens under Sir Bill Callaghan. This review will include a consideration of the appropriate enforcement standards for animal pathogens, including issues such as drainage.

JUSTICE

Coroners

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his definition is of a working day in connection with a coroner's responsibility to contact next of kin with reference to his Department's latest draft charter for the bereaved.

Bridget Prentice: The definition of a working day in the draft Charter is any day between Monday and Friday inclusive, with the exception of Christmas Day, Good Friday or a bank holiday in England and Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971. I intend to publish the draft Charter at the same time as the Coroners Bill is introduced. This will enable Members to see a summary of how the measures in the Bill will benefit bereaved families. There will be further opportunities for consultation on the draft Charter in the future, following Royal Assent of the Bill, and before reform is fully implemented.

Courts: Pay

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department consequent upon the introduction of regional pay for court staff.

Maria Eagle: There are no direct cash savings to the Department arising from the introduction of the new pay system. Rather this system enables the Department to make best use of the available budget.

Departments: Manpower

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what percentage of employees in  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) executive agency and (ii) non-departmental public body funded by his Department are above state retirement age.

Bridget Prentice: The figures for the Ministry of Justice (former DCA and its' agencies) have been compiled and are detailed as follows.
	 (a) (i) The total number of permanent and casual staff, and the percentage of staff above state retirement age, employed by the Ministry of Justice (former DCA) as at 30 September 2006, taken from the Ministry of Justice new oracle single human resource system are as follows:
	
		
			  Ministry of Justice 
			  Formerly Department for Constitutional Affairs (excl. agencies)  Number/percentage 
			 Total all staff (permanent and casual) 2,190 
			 Number of staff above 65 (state retirement age) 5 
			 Percentage of staff above age 65 and above 0.23 
		
	
	 (b) (i) The total number of permanent and casual staff, and the percentage of staff above state retirement age, employed by the Ministry of Justice agencies (former DCA and it's agencies) as at 30 September 2006, taken from the Ministry of Justice new oracle single human resource system are as follows:
	
		
			  Ministry of Justice 's  agencies  Total all staff (permanent and casual)  Number of staff above 65 (state retirement age)  Percentage of staff above 65 
			 HM Courts Service 22,570 211 0.93 
			 Public Guardianship Office 350 2 0.57 
			 Tribunals Service 3,070 10 0.33 
			 Scotland Office (excl. Office of Advocate General) 30 0 0 
			 Wales Office 60 1 1.7 
		
	
	 (b) (ii) The ONS does not collate the information for NDPB's centrally. Therefore, my Department would need to approach each of the individual NDPB's and amalgamate responses at a disproportionate cost.

Departments: Public Participation

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with which companies contracts have been agreed on citizens' juries; and what value of payments has been agreed with each company.

Michael Wills: The Ministry of Justice has not contracted any companies to undertake citizens' juries. I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) on 23 October 2007,  Official Report, column 283W.

Legal Aid

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 10 September 2007,  Official Report, column 1994W, on Legal Aid, if his Department will assess whether Arani and Co. solicitors should be allowed to remain on the list of legal aid firms.

Maria Eagle: The Legal Services Commission is responsible for awarding General Criminal Contracts, and for enforcing compliance with the standards required of contract holders. Any provider with a criminal legal aid contract, including Arani and Co., is subject to a series of reviews. The reviews test whether claims for legal aid have been made in accordance with the rules; whether the provider's performance meets the requirements of the General Criminal Contract and specialist quality mark; and whether an independent peer review assesses the provider of sufficient quality to deliver an acceptable standard of legal advice and assistance.
	Any decision to terminate a criminal legal aid contract is a matter for the Legal Services Commission, should any of the reviews demonstrate that such action is necessary.

Police Custody

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been spent on reserving unused police cells under Operation Safeguard since October 2006.

David Hanson: The Department has not separated the costs of used and unused police cells under Operation Safeguard. Places identified for use on the basis of potential operational need are paid for whether they are used or not.
	The number of places used and the location of those places can vary on a day to day basis due to police and prison operational requirements.

Prisoners' Release

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what action is taken against prisoners who remain unlawfully at large until their scheduled release date after release on the End of Custody Licence Scheme;
	(2)  how many prisoners recalled to prison after release on the End of Custody Licence Scheme remained unlawfully at large until their scheduled release date.

David Hanson: Offenders who breach any condition of the End of Custody Licence (ECL) are liable to be recalled, and a revocation order revoking their licence will be issued. From the revocation issue date, until they are arrested and returned to custody, the offender remains unlawfully at large (UAL). This period of absence is not treated as part of the sentence served unless the Secretary of State directs that it should be. Therefore, when the prisoner is returned to custody, the sentence must continue to be served including any custodial days outstanding.
	All offenders whose End of Custody Licence is revoked are notified to the police local to the area to which the offender has been released. The police are committed to arresting and returning offenders to custody as quickly as possible.
	Data on ECL, including prisoners recalled, are published at the end of each month on the Ministry of Justice website. The August report, published on 28 September, states that of the 205 offenders notified to NOMS as recalled between 29 June and the end of August, 48 offenders had not been returned to custody by end of 21 September, and all of those have passed their scheduled release date.
	Information on the number of recalled offenders who have returned to custody and those who have not, as notified to NOMS, is reported monthly on the Ministry of Justice publications website.

Prisoners Transfers

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department was invoiced for costs incurred relating to transferring prisoners between sites of secure accommodation in  (a) each year since 2001 and  (b) each month in 2007; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: Details of expenditure on inter-prison transfer and court escort services, including the daytime staffing of court facilities and docks in courts by escort contractors for each year since 2001 are set out in the following table:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2001-02 105.1 
			 2002-03 111.1 
			 2003-04 116.1 
			 2004-05 126.5 
			 2005-06 140.7 
			 2006-07 150.5 
		
	
	Details of expenditure for the financial year 2007-08 on a monthly basis are as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 April 5.4 
			 May 4.8 
			 June 24.9 
			 July 13.3 
			 August 16.8 
			 September 12.7 
		
	
	Some of these payments do not necessarily relate to the months the actual costs were incurred.
	Neither set of figures include costs of locally managed prisoner transfers. These are not recorded centrally.

Prisoners: Voting Rights

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when he plans to publish his Department's response to the consultation on voting rights for convicted prisoners.

Bridget Prentice: The Government are currently considering how to take forward the implementation of the "Hirst" judgment in light of the first stage of consultation on this issue.

Prisons: Film

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on cinema systems in  (a) prisons and  (b) young offender institutions in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: Her Majesty's Prison Service does not collect information to this degree of detail on its central accounting system. This information could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Film

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what guidance has been issued to prison governors and officers on the showing of 18 certificate films in prisons and young offenders institutions.

David Hanson: No specific guidance has been issued. Prison governors are expected to comply with the certification requirements and will exercise their professional judgement over the suitability of films to be shown to prisoners.

Prisons: Infectious Diseases

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many cases of  (a) influenza,  (b) Legionnaires' disease,  (c) MRSA,  (d) dysentery,  (e) tuberculosis and  (f) Clostridium difficile there were within prisons in England and Wales in each year since 2000.

David Hanson: The information requested is not held centrally.
	The Prison Service's Performance Standard, Health Services for Prisoners (May 2004), requires every prison establishment to have in place effective arrangements for the prevention, control and management of communicable diseases. These must include arrangements for the notification of all incidents of notifiable disease, such as tuberculosis, to the local Health Protection Agency's Consultant in Communicable Disease Control (CCDC) and an action plan in the event of an outbreak of a communicable disease.
	Upon the detection of any infection in a prison establishment, appropriate health care and infection control procedures should be instituted in partnership with infection control teams in primary care trusts and health protection units.

Prisons: Telephones

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much was spent on  (a) purchasing,  (b) renting and  (c) installing telephone systems for inmates in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: The information requested is not held and would require detailed consultations with the provider of the public prisoner telephone network at a disproportionate cost. Additionally detailed information on the precise commercial terms of purchasing, rental and installation of telephones by private sector prisons may not be available for commercial-in-confidence reasons.

Prisons: Visits

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisons in England and Wales participate in child-friendly visit schemes.

David Hanson: A new Prison Service Order was recently issued to prisons which emphasises the need to make social visits as child friendly as possible, although there is currently no performance standard that requires prisons to operate specific child or family day schemes. As a result, we do not collect information about how many have been run. However, while practice and provision varies across the prison estate, a growing number of establishments are running schemes to ensure meaningful contact between prisoners and their children.

Reoffenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many crimes are known to have been committed by offenders while on licence from prison in  (a) 2002 and  (b) 2006.

David Hanson: We have data on the proven re-offending of offenders who were released on licence, but some of the re-offending of these offenders may have been committed after their licence period ended.
	The available information on number of offences committed over three months by those offenders who were on licence when the snapshot of the probation caseload was taken is given in the following table. Information relating to 2002 is not available and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Proven re-offending of those released on licence who were recorded as being on the probation caseload (England and Wales) at the end of March, June, September, December 200 
			  Date of data extract  Total number of offenders on post-release supervision on probation caseload( 1)  Period of re-offence  Number of re-offences( 2)  Number of re-offenders 
			 End March 2006 23,573 April to June 2006 4,332 2,086 
			 End June 2006 23,519 July to September 2006 4,260 1,984 
			 End September 2006 23,414 October to December 2006 3,861 1,914 
			 End December 2006 24,066 January to March 2007 3,962 1,967 
			 (1) Based on data matched with the PNC (2) A re-offence is defined as an offence leading to a caution or conviction which took place in the three months following the end of that quarter and was proven within six months of the end of that quarter. For example, for March 2006, re-offences which took place in April, May or June 2006 will be included as long as they were proven by the end September 2006.  Note: These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Reoffenders

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the re-offending rate was for prisoners who had served custodial sentences in the latest period for which figures are available; and what plans are in place to reduce it.

David Hanson: The latest available data for adult offenders discharged from custody in the first quarter of 2004 show a 64.7 per cent. re-offending rate. The latest available data for juvenile offenders discharged from custody in the first quarter of 2005 show a 76.2 per cent. rate of re-offending.
	The adult results show a 4.6 per cent. reduction in re-offending since 2000 and the juvenile results show a 2.8 per cent. reduction since 2000. Reductions in re-offending are measured by comparing the actual rate of proven re-offending to a predicted rate (which controls for changes in offenders characteristics) which is based on the results of the 2000 dataset.
	The following tables set out adult and juvenile results since 2000.
	
		
			  Adult 
			 Percentage change in re-offending 
			   Actual re-offending rate  Predicted re-offending rate  Increase  Reduction 
			 2000 64.8 — — — 
			 2002 67.5 67.2 0.4 — 
			 2003 65.9 67.4 — 2.2 
			 2004 64.7 67.8 — 4.6 
		
	
	
		
			  Juvenile 
			   Actual re-offending rate  Predicted re-offending rate  Percentage change in re-offending (reduction) 
			 2000 78 — — 
			 2004 78.2 (1)— — 
			 2005 76.2 78.4 2.8 
			 (1) Unavailable. 
		
	
	A great deal of work is being taken forward across Government to build on this success. Reducing re-offending is a key element of the new Home Office Crime Strategy "Cutting Crime: A New Partnership 2008-11". The new "Make Communities Safer" Public Service Agreement sets a target both to reduce adult and youth re-offending, and to reduce the level of serious re-offences. NOMS and DIUS will be producing an overarching Strategic Plan in spring 2008 to set out how the Government intend to meet this challenge and a consultation paper will be published shortly. Alongside this consultation, we will also be consulting on an Offender Health and Social Care Strategy and a NOMS Third Sector Action Plan. While these will focus on specific elements of work to reduce re-offending, they will support the overarching Strategic Plan, and underscore the Government's commitment to tackling re-offending holistically.
	The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is working to reduce youth re-offending. The YJB has a scaled approach to youth justice interventions to ensure that youth offending services focus on those children and young people most likely to re-offend. The YJB has developed the assessment tool "Asset" which is used by all Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) to identify the risk factors driving offending behaviour and the protective factors that will support desistance. Asset is used to design a "multi modal" package of interventions to reduce risk factors and build up the protective factors. The Wiring-Up Youth Justice Programme is providing YOTs with the latest technology to improve the speed and quality of information transfer between YOTs, secure establishments and other key service providers.
	The new local government performance framework which contains six specific youth justice indicators (out of total of 197) provides YOTs with an excellent lever to encourage local authority chief executives to prioritise young offenders' access to services.
	The reducing re-offending agenda also makes important contributions to a number of other cross-Government PSAs including, PSA 16: Increase the proportion of socially excluded adults in settled accommodation, employment, education or training; PSA 25: Reduce the harm caused by Drugs and Alcohol and PSA 24: Deliver a more effective transparent and responsive Criminal Justice System for victims and the public.
	We are introducing new ways of measuring progress on reducing re-offending, which will include reducing the reporting time lag in the adult results from two years to one year and producing a metric to provide a more detailed understanding of the volume and seriousness of re-offences.

Reoffenders: Eastern Region

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many high risk offenders committed further serious crimes in  (a) East of England and  (b) Suffolk while under the supervision of the probation and police service in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: The number of offenders who were charged with a serious further offence while under the supervision of the probation and police services and managed at levels 2 and 3 of the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) in each of the last three years in  (a) East of England and  (b) Suffolk is set out in the following tables.
	
		
			  Offenders supervised at MAPPA levels 2 and 3 charged with a serious further offence, East of England 
			   Number 
			 2004-05 8 
			 2005-06 2 
			 2006-07 4 
		
	
	
		
			  Offenders supervised at MAPPA levels 2 and 3 charged with a serious further offence,  Suffolk 
			   Number 
			 2004-05 1 
			 2005-06 0 
			 2006-07 0

Sentencing

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will review the effectiveness of his sentencing policy.

David Hanson: The Government monitor closely the effectiveness of sentencing in reducing reoffending. A major review currently being conducted by Lord Carter is looking at sentencing policy as part of the wider examination of prison and probation services In England and Wales.

TRANSPORT

A303: Stonehenge

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she plans to announce her decision on the A303(T) improvement scheme.

Tom Harris: We are considering the findings of the inter-departmental review of the Stonehenge improvement scheme and alternative options together with the results of more recent traffic surveys and analysis carried out by the Highways Agency. We expect to announce our decision on the A303(T) improvement scheme later in 2007.

A38: Devon

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress her Department has made in ensuring that the alterations to the Deep Lane junction on the A38 in Devon will be carried out simultaneously with the development of a new town at Sherford.

Tom Harris: The Highways Agency is currently negotiating with developers and local authorities to identify the most appropriate improvements for the Deep Lane junction, in order to accommodate the new community at Sherford along with other nearby developments. The Highways Agency has exercised its powers under Article 14 of the Town and Country Planning Act to instruct the local planning authority not to grant planning consent to the development until the applicant has provided additional information enabling the Highways Agency to assess fully the impact of the proposals on the A38 trunk road. The Highways Agency will continue working with all the relevant parties to ensure the improvement works are implemented in time to accommodate traffic generated by the new developments. The improvements have been identified as a priority for funding within the current regional funding allocation period.

Air Pollution: Standards

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures her Department is putting in place to achieve compliance with the European Union targets for reductions in nitrogen dioxide pollution by 2010; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport (DFT) plays a key role in negotiating ever-tighter air quality standards for vehicles at EU level. The European Council recently voted for the latest set of Euro standards (Euro 5 and 6 for light duty vehicles), negotiated by DFT. Euro 6, due to come into force in 2015, will deliver a 68 per cent. reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from diesel cars and vans, in comparison to the Euro 4 levels.
	DFT requires local authorities to produce local transport plans (LTPs). Local authorities submitted their five-year LTPs in 2006, which cover all of England outside of London. In its guidance, DFT emphasised the importance of air quality by making it one of four shared priorities in the LTP.
	The UK's new Air Quality Strategy, published in July 2007, recommended that the Government further consider three new transport measures: incentives for the early uptake of new Euro standards; increased uptake of low emission vehicles; and reduced emissions from ships. Discussions have already begun across Government as to the possible implementation of these measures.

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment has she made of the health implications for aircraft passengers and crew of air quality in commercial aircraft; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: We commissioned the independent Committee on Toxicity (COT) to evaluate evidence submitted by the British Air Lines Pilots Association (BALPA) in relation to cabin air "fume events". The COT received extensive information from oil companies, airlines, engine manufacturers, independent scientific experts and campaign groups. The COT also reviewed previous studies of cabin air. The COT reported on 20 September 2007. The report is published on COT's website at www.advisorvbodies.doh.gov.uk/cotnonfood/index.htm where there is a mass of material.
	The committee considered that it was not possible to conclude whether cabin air exposures (either general or following incidents) cause ill-health in commercial aircraft crews. It recommended further work, in particular and as a priority, to ascertain whether substances in the cabin environment during fume events could potentially be harmful to health. COT considered that this work should be designed to detect any potentially harmful substances, rather than focus on named substances.
	In keeping with its commitment to promoting healthy flying, the Department for Transport accepts this priority. We have recently been testing equipment which may be capable of capturing substances released during fume incidents. Subject to the results of this testing, the Department hopes to begin a study later this year or early next year.

Bus Services: Tickets

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she has taken to ensure that smartcard-based passes are issued and all buses have smartcard readers before the start of the English concessionary bus fares scheme.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 22 October 2007
	We have been providing regular guidance and support to Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs) to help them issue ITSO compliant smartcard passes. This includes issuing detailed bulletins and holding a series of regional seminars.
	We have put in place a network of mentor authorities to provide additional advice and guidance to TCAs and have a dedicated and experienced team within the Department to provide support to TCAs and to monitor their progress.
	We have put in place a framework agreement which TCAs can use to produce their smartcards, though they are free to other ITSO compliant smartcard producers if they wish. We have also put in place a number of other framework agreements offering related services, such as smartcard database management and the provision of equipment to allow TCAs to produce passes in house.
	We are paying TCAs a grant of around £30 million this year which covers the cost of ordering passes under the framework agreement.
	We are funding a new company, ITSO Services Ltd, to remove from TCAs most, if not all, of the financial and administrative burdens associated with becoming an ITSO member.
	We have no plans to require smart readers to be installed on all buses in England. In areas where there are no smart readers, the passes will simply be shown to the bus drivers as they are now.

Departments: ICT

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) laptops,  (b) mobile telephones and  (c) personal digital assistant devices bought for the use of departmental Ministers have been returned to the Department following each Cabinet reshuffle since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Since May 2005, eight mobile phones and seven laptops issued to departmental Ministers for official use have been returned following reshuffles. Detailed information for previous years can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Driving Tests: Motorcycles

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many motorcycle tests were carried out at each of the test centres in Scotland in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Driving: Licensing

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people held full UK driving licences in  (a) Sandwell metropolitan borough council,  (b) the West Midlands and  (c) the UK in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table shows the estimated number of people holding a full driving licence in  (a) the West Midlands government office region and  (b) Great Britain based on data from the National Travel Survey. It is not possible to produce estimates for Sandwell metropolitan borough council using data from this survey.
	
		
			  Full car driving licence holders, West Midlands government office region and Great Britain, 1996-98  to  2006( 1) 
			   Estimated licence holders (million) 
			  West Midlands  
			 1996-98 2.7 
			 1997-99 2.8 
			 1998-2000 2.8 
			 1999-2001 2.8 
			 2002-03 2.9 
			 2003-04 2.9 
			 2004-05 2.9 
			 2005-06 3.0 
			   
			  Great Britain  
			 1996-98 30.7 
			 1997-99 31.1 
			 1998-2000 31.6 
			 1999-2001 31.7 
			 2002 31.9 
			 2003 32.1 
			 2004 32.2 
			 2005 33.3 
			 2006 33.7 
			 (1) Data for several years have been combined in some cases to increase the sample size.

London Gateway Port

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the impact of the London Gateway Port on twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) capacity demand at other English ports; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: A detailed assessment of the impact of London Gateway on other ports by region was included in the Container Port Transhipment Study, prepared by the Department's consultants MDS Transmodal and DTZ Pieda and published in May 2006.
	Scenarios 2(b), 4(b) and 5(b) in this study considered the net effect of addition of London Gateway to other development scenarios. Depending on deep-sea development assumed elsewhere, the study estimated that it would reduce additional feeder-service quay length required elsewhere by 2030 by between 14 per cent. and 35 per cent. as well as abstracting deep-sea traffic from other ports.

London Gateway Port: Road Traffic

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the impact of the London Gateway Port on road congestion in Essex; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: An assessment of the impact of the London Gateway port on road congestion in Essex was made as part of the Government decision giving consent for the port. The then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Lincoln (Gillian Merron), was satisfied that the impact of additional road traffic in Essex resulting from the port would be adequately addressed by the proposed highway capacity improvements set out in undertakings given by the London Gateway port promoters to Essex county council.

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the date was of each meeting held by  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials in her Department with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers since 27 June.

Tom Harris: Ministers and officials have had a number of meetings with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (on an individual basis or as part of a wider group) since 27 June to discuss a range of issues.

River Thames: Bridges

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which stakeholders have been included in the discussion on a new Lower Thames Crossing; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The first part of the study will include extensive consultation with both public and private sector stakeholders. In addition the study will have access to the comments made on capacity issues included in the response to the consultation on "Changes to Charges at the Dartford Crossing" carried out earlier this year.

River Thames: Bridges

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the impact of a new Lower Thames Crossing on  (a) access to and  (b) congestion in Castle Point.

Rosie Winterton: No detailed work has been carried out on the access and congestion implications of any specific option.

River Thames: Bridges

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made on commissioning a Lower Thames Crossing; and whether any locations have been ruled out.

Rosie Winterton: Detailed work on the specification of the study has been completed in house and the project is now out to tender with consultants. No locations have been ruled out.

Roads: Accidents

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many hit-and-run accidents there were in the Peterborough constituency in each of the last five years; and how many accidents resulted in  (a) injury and  (b) death.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is given in the table:
	
		
			  Number of reported personal injury hit-and-run road accidents and the number that resulted in injuries and deaths in Peterborough constituency, 2002 - 06 
			Resulting in: 
			  Accident year  Accidents  Injury( 1)  Death 
			 2002 91 90 1 
			 2003 98 98 0 
			 2004 87 87 0 
			 2005 88 88 0 
			 2006 74 74 0 
			 (1) Serious or slight.

Rolling Stock

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average age is of rolling stock providing  (a) inter-city services,  (b) commuter services in London and the South East and  (c) local regional rail services.

Tom Harris: holding answer 22 October 2007
	The information is not held in the form requested. Information on the age of rolling stock by operator is as follows:
	
		
			   Years 
			 All operators 13.95 
			 Long distance 16.40 
			 London and SE 12.98 
			 Regional operators 16.12

Shipping: Oil

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  when she plans to bring forward secondary legislation to control ship to ship oil transfer in UK territorial waters; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  when her Department plans to hold the consultation on the secondary legislation that will regulate ship to ship transfers within UK territorial waters.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The regulations which will regulate ship-to-ship transfers within the 12 nautical mile limit of the UK's territorial sea are still in draft. The Department now expects to put the draft regulations out for public consultation in early 2008, with a view to their coming into force later in that year.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2007,  Official Report, column 62W, on Afghanistan: peacekeeping operations, what the monetary value is of all items stolen.

Bob Ainsworth: The total estimated monetary value of thefts reported of both military supplies and private effects in transit to UK forces in Afghanistan from April 2006 to February 2007 is estimated at approximately £400,000.

Armed Forces

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent representations he has received from Royal British Legion members on the military covenant.

Derek Twigg: The Secretary of State and I both received letters dated 12 September from Frances Done, then director general of the Royal British Legion, formally notifying the Ministry of Defence of the public launch of the 'Honour the Covenant' campaign on 13 September and setting out its principal concerns.
	Since the launch of the campaign, Ministers have received in excess of 200 representations from members of the public concerning the Military Covenant. A majority of these have used the proforma generated by the Royal British Legion or state that they are writing on its behalf but we do not know the exact number of the correspondents who are members.

Armed Forces: Housing

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Service Families Accommodation properties were upgraded to Standard One in each financial year since 1997.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 8 October 2007
	The number of Service Families Accommodation (SFA) properties upgraded to our highest 'Standard One for Condition' in each financial year since 1999 is:
	
		
			   Number 
			 1999-2000 2,393 
			 2000-01 2,700 
			 2001-02 3,870 
			 2002-03 1,440 
			 2003-04 1,402 
			 2004-05 2,610 
			 2005-06 1,705 
			 2006-07 1,215 
		
	
	Records pre-dating 1999 are incompatible and inconsistent with those now held due to changes in data collection and standards measured.

Armed Forces: Housing

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of service families accommodation (SFA) and single living accommodation (SLA) in the UK will be at standard  (a) 1 and  (b) 2 after his Department's planned programme of expenditure over the next 10 years; and by what date he expects all SFA and SLA to be at standard (i) 1 and (ii) 2.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 22 October 2007
	The total number of service families accommodation (SFA) which will be retained in 10 years' time is dependent on wider rationalisation and disposal decisions yet to be taken. Under the housing prime contract, a survey is underway on SFA which will inform future upgrade plans. It would be premature to predict at this stage how many properties will be at a particular standard in 2017. The upgrading of properties is, however, proceeding and at present some 95 per cent. of SFA is at the top two standards for condition. This includes increasing the condition of properties at the top Standard from 40 per cent in 2001-02 to 59 per cent. now.
	So far as single living accommodation (SLA) is concerned, the current programme extends to 2013 and by then we anticipate that 52 per cent. (70,000 bed-spaces) will be at the highest standard (Grade 1), with a further 14 per cent. (19,000 bed-spaces) at Grade 2.

Armed Forces: Lifelong Education

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) level of uptake and  (b) cost was of the (i) standard learning credits scheme and (ii) enhanced learning credits scheme for (A) officers and (B) other ranks in each year since 1997.

Derek Twigg: The information is not held in the format requested in that records are not readily available by rank for either scheme, financial data about the Standard Learning Credits (SLC) Scheme is only kept to hand for the past five full financial years, and the first payments under the Enhanced Learning Credits (ELC) Scheme were only available from 1 April 2004. The full data requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	 SLC Scheme
	The total service uptake and expenditure of the SLC Scheme for the last five years is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year  Number of claims  Strength  Percentage take up  Total spent (£ million) 
			 2002-03 24,888 181,700 13.7 3.035 
			 2003-04 29,748 182,700 16.3 3.504 
			 2004-05 28,020 184,500 15.1 3.475 
			 2005-06 28,452 182,800 15.6 3.336 
			 2006-07 26,629 178,300 14.9 2.800 
		
	
	 ELC Scheme
	Prior to 1 April 2004 a total of 177,534 personnel registered for the ELC Scheme.
	Personnel only become eligible to claim ELC after accruing a minimum of four years service post their initial registration on the scheme. It would be misleading to express take-up as a percentage of registered personnel for such a demand-led scheme where, once eligible, personnel can make up to a maximum of three claims, no more than one per annum, at any time during their career or for up to 10 years after leaving the Service. The table below shows the number of additional registrations, the number of claims authorised and the value of those claims in the three financial years the scheme has been operating:
	
		
			  Financial year  Number of additional registrations  Number of claims authorised  Total spent (£ million) 
			 2004-05 19,893 4,632 3.630 
			 2005-06 14,962 6,125 5.044 
			 2006-07 14,882 6,570 5.645

Armed Forces: Racial Discrimination

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action the Government have taken to eradicate racism within the armed forces.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 22 October 2007
	The Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force have done a great deal in recent years to promote racial equality and continue to work hard to develop an organisational culture that welcomes racial diversity and places the highest priority on tackling racism. The armed forces respect and value every individual's unique contribution regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, gender, social background or sexual orientation. The goal is to create a working environment free from harassment and unlawful discrimination, in which all have equal opportunity to realise their full potential. From 1997 to 2006, the armed forces worked in formal partnership with the Commission for Racial Equality to improve racial equality.
	The MOD published a race equality scheme (RES) in 2003 and subsequent reports about the scheme detail the range of measures that the armed forces have undertaken to improve racial equality. The RES was superseded in June 2006 by the Department's overarching equality and diversity scheme. The armed forces achievements in promoting racial equality were recognised when all three services finished in the top 10 in Business in the Community's annual Race for Opportunity annual benchmarking report for 2006.

Armed Forces: Weapons

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what weapons and ammunition for which  (a) his Department and  (b) the armed forces have responsibility have gone missing in the last two years.

Bob Ainsworth: In answering this question the term 'weapons' is taken to be firearms and 'missing' is taken to include lost and stolen. Separate records are not maintained for other weapons and such information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of firearms lost or stolen in the period 1 January 2005 until 1 October 2007 is 64. The breakdown is as follows:
	
		
			   Stolen  Recovered 
			  Automatic weapon   
			 2005 1 0 
			 2006 0 0 
			 2007 0 0 
			 Total 1 0 
			  Heavy arms (mortar etc.)   
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 1 1 
			 2007 0 0 
			 Total 1 1 
			  Other weapon   
			 2005 13 0 
			 2006 1 1 
			 2007 1 1 
			 Total 15 2 
			  Pistol   
			 2005 5 2 
			 2006 8 2 
			 2007 5 1 
			 Total 18 5 
			  Rifle (mil)   
			 2005 9 2 
			 2006 12 0 
			 2007 4 1 
			 Total 25 3 
			  Shotgun   
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 0 0 
			 2007 2 0 
			 Total 2 0 
			  Rifle   
			 2005 0 0 
			 2006 2 0 
			 2007 0 0 
			 Total 2 0 
			
			 Grand total 64 11 
		
	
	Thefts of weapons are investigated by the Service Police, Ministry of Defence Police or the Home Department Police, either jointly or independently.
	The MOD holds numerous types of ammunition. Although the loss and theft is recorded, the information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total number of each type of armoured vehicle was cannibalised in each of the last 12 months.

Bob Ainsworth: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army: Operating Costs

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much it costs to run an infantry battalion (light role) for one year.

Bob Ainsworth: This information is not held in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Expenditure is spread over a variety of budgets and will vary according to the composition of the infantry battalion, the tasks in which it is engaged and where it is deployed.

Army: Working Hours

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many hours were worked per week on average by regular trained junior ranks in the Army in 2005-06; and whether time on annual leave was included in the calculations for the figures given on 16 June 2006,  Official Report, column 1520W, on army personnel (working hours).

Derek Twigg: The Defence Analytical Service Agency (DASA) carry out a continuous sample survey of working patterns providing estimates of the average working hours per person, per week, for each service.
	The results of the 2005-06 survey gave an estimate of an average of 45.2 "hours worked" per week for all regular trained junior ranks in the Army.
	"Hours worked" includes time spent carrying out normal work, secondary duties, compulsory fitness training, organised sports and representational activities, but excludes annual leave, meal and tea breaks and time spent on call.
	A copy of the 2005-06 Continuous Working Patterns report is available in the Library of the House.

Defence Estates: Official Hospitality

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much Defence Estate North has charged in liability charges for charity events held on his Department's property since April 2005.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Consultants

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the contracts his Department signed on a consultancy basis with a net value of more than £20,000 in 2006.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 18 October 2007
	The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, I have placed in the Library of the House, the MOD's expenditure on Management and Business Consultancy, Finance and Accountancy Consultancy, Corporate Governance and Audit Consultancy, and Public/Private Partnership and Private Finance Initiative Consultancy contracts signed in financial year 2006-07 that have passed through a centralised approval process. The figures do not contain spend by the MOD's Trading Funds or Agencies or on other types of consultancy.
	Summaries of the MOD's expenditure on External Assistance have been placed in the Library of the House on an annual basis since 1995-96. Furthermore, information on organisations, including consultancy firms, paid £5 million or more by the Department in each financial year is published in the UK Defence Statistics. Copies are also available in the House Library.

Departments: Manpower

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of employees in  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) executive agency and (ii) non-departmental public body funded by his Department are above state retirement age.

Derek Twigg: The number and percentage of employees in the Department and each Executive agency as at 1 September 2007 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  All staff above retirement age (SRA) 
			   Number  Percentage 
			 Ministry of Defence (Less Agencies) 1,390 2.5 
			
			 Defence Analytical Services Agency (1)— 2.2 
			 Defence Medical and Education Training Agency 25 (1)— 
			 Defence Storage and Distribution Agency 70 1.8 
			 Defence Vetting Agency 10 2.6 
			 Ministry of Defence Police 55 0.7 
			 Pay and Personnel Agency 25 2.0 
			 Service Children's Education 5 0.6 
			 Service Personnel and Veterans Agency 45 4.0 
			
			 Trading Fund Personnel 95 1.0 
			
			 Ministry of Defence Total 1,730 2.1 
			 (1) Less than 5.  Source: DASA (Quad Service). 
		
	
	Data for non-departmental public bodies funded by the Department is not held centrally.

Meteorology: Manpower

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of how many meteorologists work in the UK.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 24 October 2007
	At the current time, the Met Office has some 400 forecasting and observing staff working directly in weather forecast production in the UK. The Met Office also has a small number of forecasters and observers working in overseas locations. In addition there are some 300 scientists working in meteorological research and development. There are also a number of staff working in management and support roles who have a meteorological background.
	The Royal Navy currently has 136 HM (hydrographic, meteorological, oceanographic) officers and 13 warrant officers and chief petty officers who have received some form of training as meteorological forecasters. Only a proportion of these will be directly employed on forecasting duties at any one time. In addition to the trained forecasters, the RN has around 70 junior and senior rates trained as meteorological observers/forecasters' assistants, most of whom will be employed on forecasting duties at any one time.
	In addition to those working at the Met Office and in the Royal Navy, the Royal Meteorological Society estimates there are approximately 550 meteorologists working in academia and industry throughout the UK.

Meteorology: Manpower

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of meteorologists likely to be needed in the UK in  (a) 2010,  (b) 2020 and  (c) 2030; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 24 October 2007
	On current plans the requirement for meteorologists both at the Met Office and in the Royal Navy is likely to remain broadly constant in the future although the requirement is kept under regular review.
	I am unable to comment on the future requirement for meteorologists working outside of MOD.

Nuclear Weapons: Testing

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what categories of records of human exposure to radiation during  (a) British nuclear warhead tests and  (b) plutonium dispersal tests at Maralinga are held by the Health Protection Agency.

Derek Twigg: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) hold an epidemiological database which is used for the ongoing follow-up study of the UK participants in the UK Atmospheric nuclear weapons tests and experimental programmes at Maralinga, conducted between 1952 and 1964.
	The HPA epidemiological database includes details of individuals recorded as having been issued with film badges as well as recorded details of any external doses that had been incurred above the threshold of detection.
	In addition to the information on the database, HPA has carried out post mortem radiochemical analyses on tissues from four nuclear weapons tests participants, at the request of either a coroner or relatives of the individual. The results of these analyses have been passed to the relevant individuals and are not in the public domain and are not part of the epidemiological database.

Royal Irish Regiment

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many full-time Royal Irish home service corporals and section commanders were on short service type S engagement contracts on  (a) 1 July 2000,  (b) 1 July 2002 and  (c) 1 July 2006.

Bob Ainsworth: This information is not readily available in the format requested. I will write to the right hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Service Children's Education: Standards

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what proportion of 11-year-olds in schools operated by Service Children's Education achieved level 4 in  (a) English,  (b) mathematics,  (c) science,  (d) reading,  (e) writing,  (f) reading and writing and  (g) reading, writing and mathematics in each year since 1997.

Derek Twigg: The information for 2005 and 2006 is shown in the table:
	
		
			  SCE Key Stage 2 Student Performance—Level 4 
			   2005  2006 
			  Subject  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 English 700 83 611 82 
			 Mathematics 634 75 598 79 
			 Science 749 89 696 92 
			 Reading 740 87 648 87 
			 Writing 550 65 495 67 
			 Reading and Writing 543 64 485 65 
			 Reading, Writing and Mathematics 488 58 450 60 
		
	
	Academic results for 2007 await formal validation. They will be published in the Service Children's Education Annual Report and Accounts, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 February 2006,  Official Report, columns 708-709W, by the then Under Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for gave answers for the years from 1997 to 2004.

Unidentified Flying Objects

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2007,  Official Report, column 801W, on unidentified flying objects, for what reasons his Secretariat (Air Staff)/Defence Secretariat were not sent a copy of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Report.

Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 27 June 2007,  Official Report, column 801W.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departments: Accountancy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what departmental budget items have been reclassified, under consolidated budgeting guidance, following Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 decisions; and what the  (a) former and  (b) new (i) classification and (ii) sum budgeted is in each case.

Shaun Woodward: None of the Northern Ireland Office's budgets, including its Agencies and NDPBs, have been reclassified following the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.

Departments: Citizens' Juries

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  how many citizens' juries have been arranged by his Department since June 2007; which organisations were commissioned to conduct each citizens' jury; and what the estimated cost is of each exercise;
	(2)  how many citizens' juries were arranged for  (a) his Department and  (b) his Department's agencies in each year since 1997; which organisations were commissioned to conduct each citizens' jury; and what the cost was of each.

Paul Goggins: To date the Northern Ireland Office has not consulted citizens' juries on departmental policies.
	We do, however, provide an opportunity for stakeholders and the wider public to contribute to NIO policies and legislation including, where appropriate, focus groups and public meetings. Consultations are carried out in accordance with the Cabinet Office code of practice on written consultation and the consultation period will normally last for a minimum of 12 weeks. The Northern Ireland Office website www.nio.gov.uk provides a library of consultations and, where available, the summary of responses and associated revision to the policy or legislation.

Departments: Public Expenditure

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what dates his Department breached its  (a) resource,  (b) near-cash,  (c) administration and  (d) capital budgets since 2001; what the total value of each breach was; and what the reason was for each breach.

Shaun Woodward: Since 2001 the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) Department has not had any breaches of its  (a) resource budget,  (b) Near-cash budget,  (c) administration budget and  (d) capital budget.
	However, in 2001-02 the Department did have an excess vote relating to the funding of the grant to the Northern Ireland Consolidated Fund, which is a stand-alone RfR (request for resources) within the Department's supply estimates. The excess against the RfR was £285.2 million which in turn lead to an excess of £148.7 million over the total voted net cash requirement for the Department.
	The reason for the breach was due to a breakdown in communication between the Department of Finance and Personnel, the NIO and HM Treasury during the spring supplementary estimates of that year.

Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on what basis the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland claims lawful possession of a witness statement made to the Police Service of Northern Ireland by one of her employees; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The Police Ombudsman has advised that any information received by her in the conduct of her duties and responsibilities is in compliance with powers conferred on her as Police Ombudsman.

PRIME MINISTER

Armed Forces

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister how many times he has met the  (a) Chief of the Defence Staff,  (b) First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff,  (c) Chief of the General Staff and  (d) Chief of the Air Staff in the last 12 months.

Gordon Brown: I have regular meetings and discussions with ministerial colleagues and others on a wide range of subjects.

Committee on Standards in Public Life

Norman Baker: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2007,  Official Report, column 958W, on the Committee on Standards in Public Life, why he did not provide reasons why Sir Alistair Graham was not invited to serve a second term.

Gordon Brown: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 16 October 2007,  Official Report, column 958W.

Departmental Responsibilities: Offshore Industry

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2007,  Official Report, column 959W, on departmental responsibilities: offshore industry, for what reasons he decided to allocate responsibilities for offshore oil, gas and energy consents to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 16 October 2007,  Official Report, column 959W.

Departmental Responsibilities: Offshore Industry

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2007,  Official Report, column 959W, on departmental responsibilities: offshore industry, what representations he received on the allocation of responsibilities for offshore oil, gas and energy consents; and if he will make a statement.

Gordon Brown: Since 27 June, my office has received approximately 200 representations on energy-related matters. Given the volume of correspondence I receive—thousands of letters each week covering a broad spectrum of issues—my office records letters by subject rather than by the view expressed.

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2007,  Official Report, column 680W, on Departments: ministerial policy advisers, whether his adviser on political press issues has a written job description.

Gordon Brown: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 10 October 2007,  Official Report, column 680W.

Departments: Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Prime Minister how many and what percentage of questions tabled to his Office for answer on a named day received a substantive reply on the day named in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Gordon Brown: In the period from September 2006 to September 2007, 103 named day parliamentary questions were tabled to my office, all of which received a substantive answer on the day named.

EU Reform: Treaties

William Cash: To ask the Prime Minister what the evidential basis was for his statement of 22 October 2007,  Official Report, columns 19-38, on the EU Inter-Governmental Conference-Lisbon, relating to the views of the hon. Member for Stone.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to statements by the organisation 'Conservatives Against a Federal Europe', signed up to by the hon. Member in his former role as a vice-president of that organisation.

General Elections: Petitions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister how many  (a) hits and  (b) signatures were received on the e-petition on holding a general election in 2007 on the Downing street website before 12 noon on 10 October 2007; and how many there have been since that time and date.

Gordon Brown: Information on the number of signatures is available on the e-petitions website:
	http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Robert Wilson: To ask the Prime Minister where and when he raised the concerns of Sir Mike Jackson on US policy in Iraq with his US counterpart; and if he will publish the minutes of the meeting.

Gordon Brown: I regularly have discussions on a wide range of issues with President Bush, including on Iraq.

Official Hospitality: Prime Minister's Office

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister what the  (a) purpose and  (b) cost was of each reception held in No. 10 Downing street since 1 August.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) on 17 October 2007,  Official Report, column 1135W.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether each of his Department's special advisers have declared conflicts of interest.

James Purnell: My special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers.

Departments: Standards

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many of his Department's public service agreement targets  (a) take and  (b) do not take account of rural proofing.

James Purnell: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has one public service agreement (PSA) target: to deliver a successful Olympic games and Paralympic games with a sustainable legacy and get more children and young people taking part in high quality PE and sport.
	The PSA will be measured through five indicators. Indicators 1-3 do not require rural proofing as they relate specifically to the construction and design of the Olympic Park and Olympic venues and regeneration of East London. DCMS will ensure that the impact on rural communities is considered in relation to indicator 4—the delivery of public participation in cultural, sporting and community activities related to the 2012 games across the UK. In relation to indicator 5—creation of a world-class system for physical education (PE) and sport—DCMS is monitoring jointly with DCSF participation in PE and sport in all maintained schools, including those in rural communities. We will use this data to assess the impact in both rural and urban areas.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Inside Justice Week

Ann Coffey: To ask the Solicitor-General what role the Law Officers' Departments are taking in Inside Justice Week.

Vera Baird: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave in the House today.

Street Prostitutes

Brian Iddon: To ask the Solicitor-General what the policy is of the Crown Prosecution Service on the prosecution of street prostitutes.

Vera Baird: The CPS policy is to consider alternatives to prosecution in the courts to help prostitutes find a route out of prostitution. In many areas of the country, the CPS and the local police have developed strategies that focus on rehabilitation.

Fireworks

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Solicitor-General how many prosecutions for criminal offences relating to fireworks have been pursued in  (a) Northamptonshire and  (b) England by the Crown Prosecution Service in the last 12 months.

Vera Baird: It is not possible to provide a definitive response to this question from the records held by the CPS.
	Information on prosecutions for offences against the person and for criminal damage is held at aggregate level, and it is not possible to identify separately any cases falling into these categories in which the offence involved a firework.
	Offences under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 are within the scope of the Penalty Notice for Disorder Scheme, and are not prosecuted by the CPS unless the penalty notice is challenged.

Attorney-General

Simon Hughes: To ask the Solicitor-General what recent representations her Office has received on the future role of the Attorney-General; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: We have received a number of representations in response to the consultation document on the role of the Attorney-General. The consultation period runs until 30 November. The Attorney-General and I will be holding a seminar on 8 November to discuss the issues raised by the consultation, to which all interested hon. Members of both Houses are invited.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Computer Software

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) percentage of software by value procured using Open Source and  (b) percentage of software projects procured using Open Source in each of the last five years for which information is available;
	(2)  what plans he has to promote the use of Open Source IT by Government bodies; and what targets exist for the use of Open Source;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the potential of Open Source software to produce efficiency savings;
	(4)  what steps have been taken following his Department's publication of Open Source Software Use Within UK Government in 2004; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  which of the seven next steps listed on page six of his Department's publication Open Source Software Use Within UK Government published in 2004, have been implemented; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what advice has been issued by the Office of Government Commerce to departments on the use of Open Source information technology.

Gillian Merron: Government seeks the most cost-effective IT solutions. It tries to avoid mandating particular technologies so that suppliers can manage technology risks.
	Although Open Source can be cheaper to purchase it can also entail higher support and other costs. The additional costs or savings depend on the individual business requirement. This is supported by external studies which have not shown a consistent advantage to open source in these terms.
	The Government's policy on Open Source is to consider such solutions alongside proprietary ones in IT procurements and award contracts on a value for money basis; only use products for interoperability that support open standards and specifications in all future IT developments; seek to avoid lock-in to proprietary IT products and services; and consider obtaining full rights to bespoke software code or customisations of commercial off the shelf software it procures wherever this achieves best value for money.
	The Government have no targets to promote the use of Open Source except where it is the most cost-effective way of meeting its needs. Information on the total use and value of Open Source in government is not held centrally and could not be obtained except at disproportionate cost. However it does play an important role in major applications including websites such as Directgov; Electronic Vehicle Licensing; and Jobcentre Plus's system to help people to obtain jobs.
	Since 2004 we have continued to explore the use of Open Source to reduce total costs and improve the quality of business solutions. The security issues have been examined: some open source products have already passed information assurance certification. We have published the results of open source trials and can be found at:
	http://www.ogc.gov.uk/documents/CP0041OpenSourceSoftware TrialReport.pdf.
	DTI and Research Councils have continued to work on Open Source issues in government-funded research (although no central records are held on individual projects).
	I would also refer the hon. Member to the speech given by my right hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary in Westminster Hall,  Official Report, columns 48-52WH.

Departmental Co-ordination

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will place in the Library copies of any guidance issued to Departments on working with the Strategy Unit in the last 12 months.

Edward Miliband: The Cabinet Office does not issue formal guidance to Departments on working with individual units. The Strategy Unit has long established close and joint working relationships with other Government Departments. Detailed working arrangements are decided on a case-by-case basis. Further information about the role and working methods of the Strategy Unit are available on the Cabinet Office website (www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/).

Departments: Accountancy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what departmental budget items have been reclassified, under Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, following comprehensive spending review 2007 decisions; and what the (a) former and  (b) new (i) classification and (ii) sum budgeted is in each case.

Gillian Merron: There have been no budget items within the Cabinet Office that have been reclassified, under Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, following comprehensive spending review 2007 decisions.

Departments: Consultants

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which private consultancy firms  (a) his Department and  (b) agencies which report to his Department engaged in each of the last three years; which programmes or projects each firm worked on; and what the approximate cost to the Department or agency concerned was of each engagement.

Edward Miliband: The information requested for the Cabinet Office is not readily available and may not be obtained without incurring disproportionate costs.

Departments: Cost Effectiveness

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what efficiency savings his Department was required to make as part of its spending review 2004 (SR04) targets; what efficiency projects have been undertaken in the Department in pursuit of those targets; on what date each was initiated; and how much each was predicted to contribute to the SR04 target.

Gillian Merron: Details of the Cabinet Office's efficiency programme in relation to SR 2004 were reported in full in Cabinet Office Departmental Report 2007 (ref Cm 7108) which is available in the Libraries of the House.
	The report is available from the Cabinet Office website at:
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/about_the_cabinet_office/reports.asp

Departments: Internet

Theresa May: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many  (a) unique visits there have been to the Have Your Say on the Government's Draft Legislative Programme section of the Cabinet Office website and  (b) unique visitors there have been to the Draft Legislative Programme section of the hmg.gov.uk website since 11 July 2007.

Gillian Merron: The Cabinet Office "Have your say" governance topic (http://haveyoursay.cabinet office.gov.uk/co/topic.aspx?topic=governance) received 1,348 unique visitors from its launch on 11 July 2007 to 21 October 2007.
	The Draft Legislative Programme section of the HMG website (http://www.hmg.gov.uk/draftlegislativeprogramme /index.asp) received 2,476 unique visitors from its launch on 4 September 2007 to 21 October 2007.

Departments: Manpower

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the average fully loaded cost was of a full-time equivalent member of staff of his Department in each of the last three years.

Gillian Merron: Details of the average fully loaded cost of a full-time equivalent member of staff in the Cabinet Office are not held centrally and are therefore available only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Press

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the answer of 9 October 2007,  Official Report, column 530W, on Departments: Press, how orders for newspapers and periodicals subscribed to by the  (a) Cabinet Office and  (b) Prime Minister's offices are (i) authorised and (ii) placed.

Gillian Merron: The Prime Minister's office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office and therefore the answer provided is for the whole of the Cabinet Office including the Prime Minister's office.
	Orders for newspapers and periodicals subscribed to by the Cabinet Office are authorised only by those members of senior management who have received the appropriate level of financial delegated authority. This is in accordance with Cabinet Office rules on procurement.
	Orders for newspapers and periodicals can be placed; either through the HM Treasury and Cabinet Office library, via direct subscription to the publisher, or purchased on an ad hoc basis from a suitable supplier.

Departments: Retirement

Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many employees in  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) executive agency and (ii) non-departmental public body funded by his Department applied to continue to work beyond state retirement age in the latest year or part thereof for which figures are available; and how many of those applications were successful.

Gillian Merron: The Cabinet Office does not keep central records on the number of staff that have applied to work beyond the statutory retirement age of 65.
	The Cabinet Office currently has six employees who are above the statutory retirement age of 65.
	The Cabinet Office does not have responsibility for or fund any executive agencies or non-departmental public bodies.

Departments: Secondment

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which Departments have Strategy Unit staff seconded to them; and to which teams within each Department such staff are seconded.

Edward Miliband: The Strategy Unit currently has staff seconded to the Department for Children Schools and Families (Strategy Unit and Youth Taskforce), Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Office of Climate Change), Department of Health (Social Care), HM Treasury (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs team) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Strategy team).

Departments: Training

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much the Prime Minister's Office has spent on speech-coaching and related consultancy since 27 June 2007.

Gillian Merron: The information requested is not held centrally and therefore is available only at disproportionate cost.

Higher Civil Servants: Donations

Frank Dobson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether there are rules governing donations by senior civil servants to political parties in foreign countries.

Edward Miliband: holding answer 23 October 2007
	 Civil servants are required to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Code and the Civil Service Management Code, including requirements relating to their involvement in political activities. Copies of the codes are in the Libraries of the House.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Theresa May: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether Mr. Jonathan Powell has been on the Government payroll since 27 June.

Edward Miliband: Jonathan Powell's contract of employment as a special adviser ended on 27 June.

Official Residences: Admiralty House

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the floor area is of each of the three official ministerial residences in Admiralty House.

Edward Miliband: The floor area of the ministerial residences in Admiralty House is 859 sq m.

Social Security Benefits: Voluntary Organisations

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the role of voluntary sector organisations in the delivery of benefit entitlements.

Phil Hope: Ministers regularly attend meetings as part of the process of policy development and advice. It is not the normal practice of Government to disclose details of such meetings.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

British Standard BS7666

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on what date British Standard BS7666, on unique identifiers for each land and property unit, was first established.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	The standard was first published in 1994. Its latest revision was published on 28 July 2006.

Departments: Internet

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many websites his Department operates; how many it operated at 1 January 2005; and what the estimated annual cost was of running his Department's websites in each of the last five years.

Gareth Thomas: The principal websites for which BERR has been responsible are:
	www.berr.gov.uk
	www.accountingforpeople.gov.uk
	www.autoindustry.co.uk
	www.communicationswhitepaper.gov.uk/
	www.csr.gov.uk
	www.qualitymark.org.uk
	www.queensawards.org.uk
	www.ukishelp.co.uk
	www.berrstats.gov.uk
	www.og.dti.gov.uk
	A full list of all websites currently operated by BERR and its related public bodies is not held centrally, nor does such information exist centrally for the position at 1 January 2005. BERR is currently undertaking a review of sites as part of the Cabinet Office's process of website rationalisation. The cost of maintaining the core BERR site is included in a single annual charge—currently £979,000, to include all support activities.

Departments: Internet

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many hits the  (a) most popular and  (b) least popular website run by his Department has received since 1 January 2007.

Gareth Thomas: BERR collates centrally the statistical information on visits to its core website, www.berr.gov.uk. A full list of statistical information for other websites operated by BERR and related public bodies is not held centrally.
	For the period 1 January 2007 to 31 August 2007, www.berr.gov.uk had:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Visits 6,607,142 
			 Visitors 6,083,250 
			 Page views 23,570,525

Departments: Official Hospitality

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much was spent by the Department, and its predecessor on official hospitality in the last 12 months.

Gareth Thomas: Spending by the Department (prior to 28 June the DTI) on entertainment and hospitality for the 12 months to 30 September totalled £1,232,000, of which £196,000 related to spending by UK Trade and Investment.

Departments: Reorganisation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the estimated cost of re-branding is expected to be following the formation of his Department.

Gareth Thomas: Costs to date associated with the use of the name of the new Department are approximately £77,000. These include the costs of design, items such as new signage and changes to the website and other electronic media. As promised in my answer to a question from the hon. Member for Richmond Park, (Susan Kramer) on 17 July 2007,  Official Report, column 278W, we plan to provide a full account of extra expenditure relating to the establishment of the new Department to the Library of both Houses at the time of the winter supplementary estimates in November.

Departments: Road Traffic Offences

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many fixed penalty tickets were incurred by vehicles within the purview of his Department in the last year for which figures are available; and what the total cost was.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform operate a policy that road traffic violations such as parking tickets and speeding fines are the responsibility of staff, and are not reimbursed from public resources. No records are kept on any penalties incurred by their drivers on official business, and no financial cost has been incurred by the Department.
	The Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) provide official vehicles for use by Ministers and senior officials within departments. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick), on 18 October 2007,  Official Report, column 1186W.

Departments: Secondment

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff are seconded to his Department from outside Government; from which outside body each has been seconded; and what the length is of each secondment.

Gareth Thomas: The Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) welcome opportunities to promote and exchange best practice with organisations outside Government by way of secondment.
	There are currently 25 secondees working with BERR. The attached table lists the names of organisations and length of secondment as requested.
	
		
			  BERR: Inward secondees from non-Government organisations 
			   Length of contract 
			  Employer  Months  1 year  2 years  3 years  4 years 
			 Corus Rail — — 2 — — 
			 Black and Veatch — 1 — — — 
			 Cassella CEL Ltd — 1 —  — 
			 PWC — 1 — — — 
			 Assoc Independent Music — 1 — — — 
			 AMEC — — 2 — — 
			 Thomas Miller  — 2 — — 
			 Royal Bank Scotland  — 2 — — 
			 AMEC — — 2 — — 
			 PWC  — 2 — — 
			 AEA Technology Plc — — — — 4 
			 Thales Avionics — — 2 — — 
			 Credit Suisse — — 2 — — 
			 PWC — 1.5 — — — 
			 Deloitte — 1.5 — — — 
			 Deloitte 6 — — — — 
			 Lazard — — — — — 
			 Ernst and Young — 1.5 — — — 
			 E.ON — 1 — — — 
			 Ernst and Young — 1 — — — 
			 Scottish Power — 1 — — — 
			 Scottish and Southern Energy — 1 — — — 
			 National Grid — — 2 — — 
			 UK Petroleum Industry Association — — 2 — — 
			 National Grid — — — 3.5 —

Departments: Standards

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many of his Department's public service agreement targets  (a) take and  (b) do not take account of rural proofing.

Gareth Thomas: BERR will lead on three public service agreements (PSAs) in the period covered by the recent comprehensive spending review, i.e. 2008-11:
	PSA 1: Raise the productivity of the UK economy;
	PSA 6: Deliver the conditions for business success in the UK;
	PSA 7: Improve the economic performance of all English regions and reduce the gap in economic growth rates between regions.
	PSA 1 and PSA 6 target change in the whole economy and the underlying policies apply to businesses across the board, whether rural or urban.
	PSA 7 on regional economic performance aims to ensure that the Government's policies nationally, regionally and locally are aligned to maximise the potential for sustainable economic growth. Recognising that there may be trade-offs between policies to lift growth at different spatial scales, the delivery plan commits the Government to carry out further analysis to examine the trade-offs and, in particular, minimise the risk to increasing disparities between peripheral rural areas and other parts of a region.

Departments: Trade Unions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2007,  Official Report, column 1080W, on Departments: trade unions, what other projects implemented by domestic trade unions his Department has funded in the last period for which figures are available.

Patrick McFadden: Since 1997 the Government have had three strategic funds to encourage better industrial relations and increase modern working practices. The Partnership at Work Fund and the Strategic Partnership Fund were available to both companies and unions.
	The following tables give (a) the commitments to unions under the Partnership at Work Fund and, (b) actual payments to unions under the Strategic Partnership Fund and the Union Modernisation Fund.
	
		
			  (a) Funds committed to unions 2000-03 
			  Union  Year in which commitment made  Amount given (£)  Fund 
			 AEEU 2000 49,912 Partnership Fund(1) 
			 Unison 2000 32,500 Partnership Fund 
			 Community and Youth Workers Union 2000 50,000 Partnership Fund 
			 Unison 2000 13,440 Partnership Fund 
			 TUC 2000 14,450 Partnership Fund 
			 TUC 2000 24,300 Partnership Fund 
			 Scottish TUC 2000 37,575 Partnership Fund 
			 MSF 2000 20,000 Partnership Fund 
			 Royal College of Midwives 2000 34,000 Partnership Fund 
			 MSF 2000 30,000 Partnership Fund 
			 MSF 2000 26,405 Partnership Fund 
			 Unison 2000 50,000 Partnership Fund 
			 TGWU 2001 50,000 Partnership Fund 
			 Unison 2001 14,000 Partnership Fund 
			 Numast 2002 36,800 Partnership Fund 
			 Amicus 2002 47,360 Partnership Fund 
			 TUC 2002 43,015 Partnership Fund 
			 TGWU 2002 42,276 Partnership Fund 
			 Royal College of Nursing 2002 18,650 Partnership Fund 
			 Unison 2003 50,000 Partnership Fund 
			 (1) The Partnership at Work Fund was a Government grant scheme established by the DTI created in 1999 to encourage the development of industrial relations by encouraging employers and employees to work together effectively. The Partnership at Work Fund supported partnership projects within individual organisations. The fund is now closed. 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Funds paid to unions 
			  Union  Amount (£)  Fund 
			  Year ended 31 March 2005   
			 TUC 26,472 Strategic Partnership Fund(1) 
			 GPMU 3,880 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 GMB 96,871 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 Amicus 37,592 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 TUC 12,544 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 UCATT 61,045 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			
			  Year ended 31 March 2006   
			 TUC 21,512 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 GMB 108,000 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 Amicus 261,381 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 TUC 34,270 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 UCATT 69,898 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			
			  Year ended 31 March 2007   
			 GMB 15,000 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 TUC 68,000 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 UCATT 4,443 Strategic Partnership Fund 
			 GMB 23,340.53 Union Modernisation Fund(2) 
			 Wales TUC 12,252.64 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 National Union of Teachers 7,377.84 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 Royal College of Midwives 43,329.35 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 Union of Finance Staff 7,083.30 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 United Road Transport Union 24,330.00 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 Community and District Nursing Association 8,125.65 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 British Dental Association 6,047.75 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 Connect 28,647.63 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 USDAW 104,011.73 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers 32,489.00 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 National Union of Journalists 11,475.34 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 ASLEF 13,232.25 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 General Federation of Trade Unions 23,284.48 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 Portman Group Staff Association 6,070.70 Union Modernisation Fund 
			 (1) Strategic Partnership projects reach out beyond single company projects to assess sectoral and regional issues. (2) The Union Modernisation Fund provides financial assistance to independent trade unions and their federations in support of innovative projects, which contribute to, or explore the potential for transformational change in the organisational effectiveness of efficiency of a union or unions, in the light of the changing needs, aspirations and behaviour of workers and employers in the changing UK Labour market.

Industrial Disputes: Ballots

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what plans his Department has to bring forward proposals to amend legislation or regulations on the conduct of ballots for industrial action by trade unions.

Patrick McFadden: We would not bring forward proposals in this area without fully consulting employers and other interested parties in advance. Such consultations have not taken place.

Macfarlan Smith: Monopolies

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether his Department has undertaken the analysis set out in paragraph 13 of the response of the Department for Trade and Industry to the Office of Fair Trading's review of undertakings by Macfarlan Smith Limited (SML), published in September 2006.

Gareth Thomas: The Home Office is responsible for licensing and has lead responsibility for implementing the Government Action Plan. The work to which the hon. Member refers—analysis of the effect of Macfarlan Smith Limited's position of customers in other countries—is ongoing.

Marine Legislation: Devolution

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many meetings have taken place between his Department and its predecessor and the Scottish Executive's  (a) Enterprise, Energy and Tourism Directorate and  (b) Marine Directorate since May regarding the devolution of further powers for the Scottish Parliament under UK marine legislation.

Gareth Thomas: No such meetings have taken place.

Overseas Trade: Burma

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what records his Department keeps of which UK registered companies are trading  (a) with and  (b) in Burma.

Gareth Thomas: We do not actively keep records of which UK registered companies are trading with, or in Burma. However, we do follow reports of companies activities produced by the UN, NGOs and other organisations. We monitor the level of UK corporate activities through statistics from the Office of National Statistics and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, which show that trade and investment in Burma has fallen in recent years.

Post Offices: Closures

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many  (a) urban and  (b) rural post offices closed in (i) the UK and (ii) Wales in each year since 1997.

Patrick McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Post Offices: Portsmouth

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform at which post offices proposed for closure in Portsmouth the postmaster has applied for a severance or redundancy payment.

Patrick McFadden: Sub post office closures under Post Office Ltd's network change programme will be compulsory in order to meet access criteria and to ensure national coverage and reasonable access to post office services is maintained.

Post Offices: Suffolk

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the likely effect on retail businesses which contain post offices in  (a) Nacton,  (b) Sutton,  (c) Ufford,  (d) Walberswick,  (e) Waldringfield,  (f) Wangford and  (g) Wrentham of proposed outreach facilities being substituted for current services.

Patrick McFadden: It is not possible to say what the effect on any associated retail business will be of substituting outreach for current services at individual post offices until the implementation of Post Office Ltd's relevant area network change plan is completed. Post Office Ltd's local decisions will need to reflect the Government's aim of supporting a national network of post offices and to comply with the access criteria requirements set by the Government.

Post Offices: Suffolk

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the likely effect on retail businesses which contain post offices in  (a) Bramfield,  (b) Knodishall,  (c) Reydon and  (d) Hasketon Road, Woodbridge of the proposed post office closures.

Patrick McFadden: It is not possible to say what effect the closure of individual post offices will have on any associated retail business until the implementation of Post Office Ltd's relevant area network change plan is completed. Post Office Ltd's local decisions will need to reflect the Government's aim of supporting a national network of post offices and to comply with the access criteria requirements set by the Government.

Postal Services

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2006,  Official Report, column 356W, on postal services, which of the products and services are not available across the national network.

Patrick McFadden: This is a commercial and contractual matter for Post Office Ltd and its clients. Alan Cook, the Managing Director of Post Office Ltd, has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Postal Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of Royal Mail's proposal to cease Sunday and bank holiday postal collections.

Patrick McFadden: This is an operational matter for Royal Mail. The company introduced Sunday collections a few years ago to enhance their service, but there has been very little take up from the public. Sunday postings are very low, but add a huge amount of cost to the business. Royal Mail have to have regard to their costs and are therefore looking to stop Sunday collections.
	The Government considers the maintenance of a universal postal service throughout the UK to be of the highest importance. That is why the obligation is enshrined in primary legislation in the Postal Services Act 2000 and why Postcomm has the primary statutory duty to ensure the provision of a universal postal service at an affordable uniform tariff. Sunday and Bank Holiday collections are not part of the universal service obligation.

Postal Services Commission

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Postcomm in fulfilling its role to protect the universal service and to ensure that operators, including Royal Mail, meet the needs of their customers.

Patrick McFadden: Postcomm is an independent regulator, and like other independent regulators is accountable directly to Parliament through the Select Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.
	HMG continues to engage with Postcomm and the independent consumer body Postwatch to ensure that customers' needs are properly met.

Small Businesses: Closures

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  how many small business closures there have been in each region in the last five years;
	(2)  how many small businesses have closed in the last five years during their first  (a) 12 months and  (b) five years of trading, broken down by region;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the impact of the rate of small business closures on  (a) each region and  (b) England.

Stephen Timms: Data on small business closures by region are not available.
	However, data on the number of businesses of all sizes that de-register for VAT each year, and the proportion that remain registered for 1 and 4 years, in each UK region, are published by BERR.
	The following table shows the number of VAT de-registrations in each UK region and country 2001-05.
	
		
			  VAT de-registrations in each UK country and region 
			   De-registrations 
			   2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 United Kingdom 155,890 162,405 165,530 163,400 152,945 
			 England 136,520 142,375 144,740 142,870 133,230 
			 North East GOR 4,110 3,995 4,010 3,850 3,600 
			 North West GOR 15,500 16,220 15,955 15,650 14,265 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber GOR 11,160 11,560 11,140 11,225 10,745 
			 East Midlands GOR 9,905 10,155 10,695 10,615 9,765 
			 West Midlands GOR 12,740 13,130 14,255 13,860 12,610 
			 East GOR 15,225 15,475 16,115 15,995 14,690 
			 London GOR 30,825 32,625 31,760 32,145 30,230 
			 South East GOR 23,970 25,410 26,540 25,855 24,605 
			 South West GOR 13,080 13,810 14,265 13,680 12,720 
			 Wales 5,465 6,425 6,670 6,015 5,555 
			 Scotland 10,955 10,820 10,930 10,920 10,160 
			 Northern Ireland 2,955 2,785 3,190 3,595 4,005 
			  Source:  Business Start-ups and Closures: VAT Registrations and De-registrations 1994-2005, available at: http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/vat 
		
	
	The following table shows the number of businesses that de-registered for VAT within one and four years of registration, for each UK region and country, by year of registration for the latest five years worth of available data. Data for five years after registration are not produced at regional level.
	
		
			  The number of VAT de-registrations within one and four years, by registration year, in each UK country and region 
			  Number de-registering for VAT within one year  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004 
			 United Kingdom 16,996 14,621 13,977 13,385 14,519 
			 England 14,992 13,003 12,306 11,778 12,685 
			 North East GOR 428 405 373 353 348 
			 North West GOR 1,870 1,583 1,356 1,254 1,428 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber GOR 1,188 1,120 1,070 983 1,045 
			 East Midlands GOR 1,150 945 898 911 941 
			 West Midlands GOR 1,314 1,257 1,197 1,138 1,198 
			 East GOR 1,463 1,282 1,301 1,218 1,300 
			 London GOR 3,887 3,407 3,197 3,075 3,285 
			 South East GOR 2,364 1,962 1,920 1,876 2,073 
			 South West GOR 1,369 1,041 1,058 1,014 1,038 
			 Wales 610 536 495 493 486 
			 Scotland 1,089 944 902 887 1,030 
			 Northern Ireland 249 220 244 235 332 
		
	
	
		
			  Number de-registering for VAT within four years  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001 
			 United Kingdom 72,524 74,340 71,651 71,920 65,966 
			 England 63,814 65,748 63,341 63,757 58,439 
			 North East GOR 1,661 1,691 1,720 1,757 1,618 
			 North West GOR 7,700 7,650 7,290 7,222 6,660 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber GOR 4,732 4,899 4,696 4,922 4,479 
			 East Midlands GOR 4,469 4,541 4,250 4,507 4,185 
			 West Midlands GOR 5,888 5,951 5,778 5,707 5,507 
			 East GOR 6,764 6,630 6,384 6,770 6,112 
			 London GOR 15,727 17,413 16,620 16,457 14,830 
			 South East GOR 11,085 11,188 10,836 10,782 9,892 
			 South West GOR 5,802 5,845 5,779 5,691 5,088 
			 Wales 2,431 2,435 2,350 2,491 2,241 
			 Scotland 5,092 5,086 4,832 4,583 4,315 
			 Northern Ireland 1,077 1,120 1,069 981 987 
			  Source:  BERR analysis of VAT and survival rate data 
		
	
	VAT registration and de-registration data for 2006 will be published on 14 November 2007. Survival data will not be produced again until 2009.
	New VAT registrations exceeded de-registrations in the UK (and in all regions) between 2001 and 2005. The stock of VAT registered businesses rose by 4 per cent. during the period.
	VAT registrations do not capture all business activity. Businesses are unlikely to be registered if they fall below the compulsory VAT threshold, which was £60,000 at the start of 2006. Similarly, businesses that de-register may not have closed. Only 1.9 million out of 4.5 million UK enterprises (41 per cent.) were registered for VAT at the start of 2006.
	Although data on the number of VAT de-registrations are routinely collected and monitored, there is currently no general information on the impact of business closures at regional and national level. However a study commissioned for the London Development Agency in 2005(l) showed that out of the 790,000 jobs lost through SMEs closing down in London between 2001 and 2003, 88 per cent. found immediate employment elsewhere, 8 per cent. went in self-employment and 1 per cent. into training. Only 3 per cent. went into unemployment.
	At appropriate levels, business closures are a necessary part of the productive churn process, creating space for more productive and innovative firms to expand, and therefore an important step in boosting regional and national productivity. Data on closures, including data at a regional level, are routinely collected and monitored.
	(1) Business Closures in London: Final Report, 2005, TBR Economics

Trade Union Political Funds

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what advice and guidance  (a) his Department and  (b) the Certification Officer has provided on whether trade union members who opt out of a political fund of their trade union should (i) be refunded and (ii) not be charged the cost of the political fund contribution when they pay their union subscriptions.

Patrick McFadden: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has produced guidance on the law regarding political funds in a publication entitled "Trade union political funds: a guide for trade unions, their members and others". That guidance describes the law relating to the freedom of union members to contract out of paying the political levy.
	The Certification Officer has produced guidance on contracting out of a political fund in a publication entitled "Guidance for trade unions and employers' associations wishing to establish a political fund". The guidance contains the statutory requirements relating to the manner of giving effect to exemptions.

Trade Union Political Funds

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what guidance  (a) his Department and  (b) the Certification Officer has produced on whether a trade union may use non-political fund resources to fund an affiliated organisation that then engages in political activity.

Patrick McFadden: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has produced guidance on the law regarding political funds in a publication entitled "Trade union political funds: a guide for trade unions, their members and others". That guidance describes the law relating to unlawful expenditure on political objects.
	The Certification Officer has also produced two guidance publications: "Guidance for trade unions and employers' associations wishing to establish a political fund" and "Guide to political fund review ballots". These contain the statutory provisions which restrict the expenditure of union funds on political objectives.

Trade Union Political Funds

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what guidance his  (a) Department and  (b) the Certification Officer has produced on whether trade union members who opt out of the political fund should pay a different union membership fee from those who remain in the fund.

Patrick McFadden: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has produced guidance on the law regarding political funds in a publication entitled 'Trade union political funds: a guide for trade unions, their members and others'. That guidance describes the law relating to the freedom of union members to contract out of paying the political levy.
	The Certification Officer has also produced guidance on this issue in a publication entitled 'Guidance for trade unions and employers' associations wishing to establish a political fund'.

Trade Union Political Funds

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what guidance  (a) his Department and  (b) the Certification Officer has produced on whether application forms to join a trade union should mention the rights of the trade union member to opt out of the political fund.

Patrick McFadden: Neither the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform nor the Certification Officer has produced guidance on this topic.

Trade: Barbados

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value was of  (a) imports and  (b) exports of (i) goods and (ii) services between Barbados and the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years for which information is available.

Gareth Thomas: The information is as follows.
	(i) Overseas Trade Statistics recorded data for UK trade in goods with Barbados are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   UK imports of goods from Barbados  UK exports of goods to Barbados 
			 1997 30.9 37.2 
			 1998 28.3 42.5 
			 1999 21.5 43.4 
			 2000 24.5 51.2 
			 2001 40.2 55.7 
			 2002 25.0 39.6 
			 2003 20.9 52.3 
			 2004 20.0 42.2 
			 2005 23.0 55.6 
			 2006 19.9 47.0 
		
	
	(ii) Data on trade in services are not available for the full 10 years requested. table 9.13 of the UK Balance of Payments "Pink Book 2007" gives the following figures for UK trade in services with Barbados:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   UK imports of services from Barbados  UK exports of services to Barbados 
			 2005 695 53 
			 2006 832 55

Trade: Bermuda

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value was of  (a) imports and  (b) exports of (i) goods and (ii) services between Bermuda and the United Kingdom in each of the last 10 years for which information is available.

Gareth Thomas: The information is as follows.
	(i) Overseas Trade Statistics recorded data for UK trade in goods with Bermuda are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   UK imports of goods from Bermuda  UK exports of goods to Bermuda 
			 1997 54.2 55.4 
			 1998 3.7 40.2 
			 1999 39.3 183.7 
			 2000 1.8 325.9 
			 2001 45.3 34.0 
			 2002 18.0 30.9 
			 2003 68.0 42.0 
			 2004 55.6 32.5 
			 2005 16.0 20.3 
			 2006 73.7 19.6 
		
	
	(ii) Data on trade in services are not available for the full 10 years requested. table 9.13 of the UK Balance of Payments "Pink Book 2007" gives the following figures for UK trade in services with Bermuda:
	
		
			  £ million 
			   UK imports of services from Bermuda  UK exports of services to Bermuda 
			 2005 297 683 
			 2006 357 705

Union Modernisation Fund

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether any payments have been withheld by his Department from projects awarded funding under round one of the Union Modernisation Fund.

Patrick McFadden: As at 30 September 2007, no payments have been withheld from projects awarded funding under round one of the Union Modernisation Fund.

Union Modernisation Fund

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform for how many projects awarded funding under round one of the Union Modernisation Fund an independent accountant's report has been received by his Department.

Patrick McFadden: By 30 September 6 independent accountant's reports had been received from unions that have completed projects under round one of the Union Modernisation Fund.
	The report accompanies the final claim and confirms that the union has expended the sums in respect of which all claims have been made.

Union Modernisation Fund: Finance

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value of payments made by the Union Modernisation Fund was in each year for which figures are available.

Patrick McFadden: Payments made by the Union Modernisation Fund totalled £754,738 in financial year 2006-07, and £218,566 in financial year 2007-08.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Tax Benefits: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what council tax benefits were paid in each local authority in Hampshire in each year since 2000-01; what estimate she has made of the number of eligible people failing to claim such benefits in each local authority; and if she will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: I have been asked to reply
	Estimates of the number eligible but not receiving council tax benefit are not available below the level of Great Britain. Estimates of the numbers eligible and not receiving council tax benefit in Great Britain can be found in the series 'Income Related Benefits Estimates of Take-Up'. Copies of the report are available in the Library.
	The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Council tax benefit expenditure for Hampshire local authorities (in nominal terms) 
			  £ million 
			   2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07 
			 Basingstoke 3.1 3.2 3.8 4.6 5.1 5.5 6.0 
			 East Hampshire 2.3 2.4 2.6 3.1 3.6 3.9 4.0 
			 Eastleigh 2.7 2.7 2.9 3.5 3.9 4.2 4.4 
			 Fareham 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.7 3.0 3.4 3.5 
			 Gosport 2.3 2.4 2.6 3.1 3.5 3.8 4.1 
			 Hart 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.6 1.9 2.1 2.3 
			 Havant 4.3 4.5 4.8 5.7 6.6 7.1 7.4 
			 New Forest 4.8 5.1 5.4 6.4 7.4 7.8 8.1 
			 Rushmoor 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.8 3.1 3.5 3.7 
			 Test Valley 2.2 2.3 2.6 3.2 3.7 4.0 4.3 
			 Winchester 2.4 2.5 2.7 3.2 3.6 3.9 4.1 
			 Total for Hampshire 29.2 30.3 32.9 40.0 45.4 49.2 52.0 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are presented to the nearest 100,000. 2. Figures presented for years up to 2005-06 are audited, but may change in future if local authorities' accounts are amended after a decision or appeal. Figures for recent years are more likely to be amended than older data. 2006-07 figures are from initial final (pre-audited) subsidy claims, so are subject to change once audited data become available. 3. Local authority level information includes council tax benefit expenditure reimbursed by the DWP, that funded by local authorities, and expenditure relating to asylum seekers, which since 1999-2000 has been funded by the National Asylum Support Service (part of the home office). 4. Figures relate to what local authorities spend on claimants and include discretionary expenditure (mainly disregards of War Pensions), and overpayments except where benefit has been granted in advance (where the benefit is paid in the form of a rebate). 5. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 6. Figures up to 2005-06 are available at:  http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/HBandCTB_expenditure.asp  Source: Information sourced from Local Authority claims for Council Tax Benefit subsidy

Council Tax: Parish Councils

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much parish precepts on council tax are estimated to raise across England in 2007-08.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 19 June 2007,  Official Report, column 1674W.

Council Tax: Valuation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research, including opinion research and polling, her Department has  (a) undertaken in-house and  (b) commissioned from external sources in relation to council tax revaluation in England.

John Healey: None.

Departments: Contracts

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many invitations to tender her Department and its predecessor have issued since 2002; and for what purpose in each case.

John Healey: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Departments: Disadvantaged People

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will give examples of the use her Department has made of the Compact Codes of Good Practice on Community Groups and on Black and Ethnic Minority Organisations in its work on communities, cohesion and integration; and if she will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department takes its obligations under the five Compact codes very seriously.
	Examples include:
	Communities and Local Government has a Public Sector Agreement Target to reduce the perception of discrimination in key public services, and in the labour market, and to increase the perception of community cohesion in key areas of the country. The CSR announcement of 9 October set out our key objectives for the coming three years, including further targets on reducing discrimination, and a key target to increase the representation of BME groups in public life—as magistrates, councillors, school governors etc.;
	Following publication of the Quirk Review, "Making Assets Work", in May 2007, the Government accepted its recommendations and an implementation plan is now being taken forward in partnership with all relevant public bodies;
	The recommendations of the December 2004 Home Office framework for community capacity building, "Firm Foundations", have been taken forward and are reflected in the Local Government White Paper and the Action Plan for Community Empowerment, "Building on Success".
	We have led the development of the "Take Part" scheme for citizenship learning for adults, which will promote active citizenship.

Departments: Discrimination

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many claims have been made against  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies under the Sex Discrimination Act since 2002; and what the outcome of each case was.

Parmjit Dhanda: Since the Department for Communities and Local Government came into being in May 2006, three sex discrimination cases have been brought against it or its agencies under the Sex Discrimination Act. Two were withdrawn after agreement was reached without admission of liability by the Department. The third was withdrawn by the claimant.
	Information about predecessor Departments is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Official Hospitality

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent in total on travel, subsistence and hospitality in the last year for which audited figures are available.

John Healey: As stated in the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Resource Accounts 2006-07 (HC 836, 12 July 2007), the total expenditure on travel, subsistence and hospitality was £5.709 million, including expenditure for the Government offices.
	All expenditure incurred on travel, subsistence and hospitality by civil servants and Ministers of the Department is conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers, as well as published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on principles set out in Government Accounting.

Departments: Standards

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many of her Department's public service agreement targets  (a) take and  (b) do not take account of rural proofing.

Parmjit Dhanda: Communities and Local Government (CLG) lead on two cross-department public service agreements. Both have been developed taking account of rural proofing and in discussion with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
	 PSA 20
	The Delivery Agreement for 'Increase long-term housing supply and affordability' encompasses both urban and rural areas. CLG will be working in partnership with DEFRA to ensure issues in rural communities are addressed. As a partner, DEFRA have specific responsibilities with regard housing in rural areas which are set out in paragraph 3.14 of the Delivery Agreement.
	The recent housing Green Paper "Homes for the future: more affordable, more sustainable" outlines Government's plan for delivering the additional homes this country needs. It includes (chapter 1) specific proposals for meeting the rural challenge.
	 PSA 21
	The rural context was considered in developing PSA 21 'Build more cohesive, empowered and active communities'. DEFRA play a key role in helping build more cohesive, empowered and active rural communities, which is set out in the Delivery Agreement in paragraphs 3.21 to 3.23 inclusive.

Elections: Bedfordshire

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  whether district, town and parish council elections will be held in South Bedfordshire District in May 2008 following the proposals for a unitary council for this area in 2009; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  which district, parish and town councils will bear the cost of elections in South Bedfordshire District in May 2008.

John Healey: On 25 July my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that she was minded to implement Bedford borough's proposal for unitary status and that we intend formally to invite all other councils in Bedfordshire to propose a unitary solution that would meet the criteria for that remaining area. We have yet to take final decisions on the structural arrangements in Bedfordshire and whether, as a consequence, there are to be district, town and parish elections in 2008.

Emergencies: Planning

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration has been given to potential  (a) enhancement of multi-agency response resilience and  (b) financial efficiencies, from combining the training offered by location of the Fire Service College and the Emergency Planning College on one site.

Parmjit Dhanda: Traditionally the Fire Service College has focused on specialist training for the Fire and Rescue Service at the operational (bronze) and tactical (silver) levels. With the need to develop and enhance national resilience the college has undergone a period of considerable change and there is now more focus on command and control of major incidents and on the exposure of Fire and Rescue Staff to multi agency working at the strategic (gold) level.
	We have invested significantly in new training facilities and student accommodation at the Fire Service College and it has a large and unique incident ground which would readily support multi-agency working. There is already a degree of co-operation with the Emergency Planning College and, with closer collaboration having the potential to enhance the multi agency approach to large scale operational exercises and strengthen national resilience, the options for more joint working are being actively explored.

Ethnic Groups: Equal Opportunities

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when her Department plans to produce the proposed race equality duty toolkit.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department undertook to work with the Commission for Racial Equality to produce an internal guide for Whitehall Departments on mainstreaming race equality duties. Unfortunately, it proved impossible to agree the content between us before the CRE merged into the new Equality and Human Rights Commission on 1 October 2007. We are continuing to work with the new Commission to determine how best to ensure that Departments can improve their performance.

European Regional Development Fund: Fines

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what risk and contingent liabilities her Department has allowed for in relation to potential fines from the European Commission for not correcting the deficiencies in the allocation of European Regional Development Fund funds and potential fraud.

John Healey: As stated in the Communities and Local Government annual report 2007, laid before the House on 17 May 2007 (Cm 7094), the Department has a contingent liability in place for £62 million. The Department is working hard to satisfy the European Commission's concerns and ensure any possible fine would be considerably less than this. The Commission have yet to take final decisions, and it should also be noted that there has never been any suggestion of fraud in the issues raised by the Commission.

Fire Services

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what delays have occurred in meeting  (a) milestones and  (b) targets in relation to the Firelink contract.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Firelink contract was let in March 2006. Achievement of the first four milestones has been delayed. Milestone 1, relating to production of detailed plans and designs by the contractor, was achieved in March 2007, six months later than originally planned. This was largely due to the need to ensure the contractor's basis for project implementation was robust, and had the support of the Fire and Rescue Service. Sign off of Milestones 2-4, which relate to the installation of the network infrastructure is currently being withheld to ensure that the contractor's proposed schedule for implementation is realistic. There are no other overdue Milestones at present. The overall target date for completion of Firelink with voice functionality is 2009, and this remains unchanged since contract signature; and as each brigade migrates to their regional control centre they will obtain full functionality including data transmission.

Fire Services: Contracts

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account was taken of her Department's policy of encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in public sector contracts when awarding the contract under the Integrated Clothing Project for the Fire and Rescue Service; and if she will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: In line with the Small Business Friendly Concordat, launched by the Office of Deputy Prime Minister, the Local Government Association and the Small Business Service in March 2005, Firebuy Ltd. has actively engaged with Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME) and encouraged them to participate in all national tenders.
	The preferred bidder for the Integrated Clothing Project is a Small and Medium sized Enterprise.

Fire Services: Firebuy

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what process was followed by Firebuy Limited in setting the technical specifications for procurement on behalf of the Fire and Rescue Service; what mechanism is in place to provide assurance in relation to this process; what recent  (a) discussions she has had and  (b) representations she has received from (i) the Fire and Rescue Service and (ii) others on the (A) procedures and practices, (B) conclusions and (C) overall performance against objectives of Firebuy Limited in relation to the Integrated Clothing Project; and if she will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Integrated Clothing Project operates under the principles of the Prince2 project management method and is subject to Gateway reviews by the 4ps (Public Private Partnerships Programme) who are the local government procurement experts. Firebuy Ltd. works with the Chief Fire Officers Association, as the professional voice of the Fire and Rescue Service, in the setting of national technical specifications. The testing methodology utilised by Firebuy Limited, for Personal Protective Equipment, has become the benchmark process and is now contained within European Standards.
	There have been recent  (a) discussions and  (b) representation from both (i) Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs) and (ii) suppliers to the industry on when the Integrated Clothing Project will be let as this kit is required urgently by some FRAs. It is too soon to comment on the (A) procedures and practices, (B) conclusions and (C) overall performance against objectives as the project has just completed the Stage 3 Gateway Review, which looked at the investment decision.

Fire Services: Firebuy

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much Firebuy Limited has spent on determining the  (a) items and  (b) item specifications of procurement on behalf of the Fire and Rescue Service; and over what period of time such determination was conducted.

Parmjit Dhanda: The costs of determining the  (a) items and  (b) items specifications of procurement on behalf of the Fire and Rescue Service cannot be quantified as separate components within the Firebuy Ltd. budget. These activities are intrinsic to Firebuy Ltd.'s purpose as the national procurement agency which develops user requirement specifications.
	Since Firebuy Ltd. was formerly established on 1 April 2006 it has spent approximately £1.5 million per annum on various procurement operations. This expenditure includes staff costs, project scoping, developing specifications, inviting and evaluating tenders from the market and awarding and managing contracts and framework agreements. Firebuy Ltd. has already delivered over £lm savings since September 2005 when it was set up as Company Limited by Guarantee. Expected future benefits for Fire and Rescue Authorities are estimated at £10 million over the next five years.

Fire Services: Procurement

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the Stage 3 Review of the Integrated Clothing Project by 4ps (Public and Private Partnerships Programme) gateway review team undertaken from 18 to 20 June.

Parmjit Dhanda: The stage 3 Gateway review on the Integrated Clothing Project will be made available on the Firebuy website (www.firebuy.gov.uk) as soon as it is published.

Floods: Council Tax

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect on council tax bills of the recent flooding in the worst flood-hit areas.

John Healey: Decisions on the level of council tax are a matter for individual authorities. To date the Government has made available a significant package of over 46 million to support areas affected by the flooding of June and July 2007. This includes:
	£17,390,000 in Flood Recovery Grant released to local authorities affected by the floods to support their work in helping those in greatest and most immediate need.
	£13,288,000 released to schools and children's services affected by the floods
	An initial £3 million for local authorities to repair damage to the local highway
	Over £11 million from Regional Development Agencies for businesses affected in their regions
	£1 million for use by Jobcentre Plus to support additional demand for Social Fund Community Care Grants
	£1 million to support rural tourism in England through promoting rural destinations and visitor attractions and a targeted marketing campaign.
	This is additional money to that available under the Bellwin scheme which provides emergency financial assistance from Government to local authorities, to help meet the uninsurable costs of immediate action to safeguard life or property or prevent severe inconvenience to inhabitants in the case of an emergency or disaster. In recognition of the exceptional nature of the recent flooding we have made it easier for local authorities to claim back additional costs from Government through the Bellwin scheme by significantly extending the period for which authorities can claim and increasing the proportion of costs they can receive in support grants to 100 per cent. above threshold.

Floods: Grants

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether councils receiving 100 per cent. Bellwin contributions following the recent flooding will have to pay for the Bellwin threshold contribution from their own resources.

John Healey: Yes. In keeping with the established principals of the Bellwin scheme we take the view—as have previous Administrations—that it is reasonable to expect authorities to cover costs themselves up to a certain level. Every authority is required to maintain reserves, one of whose main purposes is to meet unexpected costs.
	The threshold above which an authority is eligible to claim Bellwin funding is 0.2 per cent. of its annual budget and is only applied once in the financial year. Therefore, if an authority exceeded its threshold in June and was hit by floods again in July it would not be required to spend up to the threshold in July before qualifying for grant. For the recent flooding, expenditure above the threshold will be eligible for 100 per cent. assistance from Government, and the Bellwin scheme announced for the recent flooding was, alongside that for the floods in 2000, the most generous ever announced.

Gardens: Heating

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make an assessment of the merits of powers for local authorities  (a) to regulate and  (b) to ban the use of out-door patio heaters on licensed premises; and if she will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Government have no plans to introduce powers for local authorities to regulate or ban the use of outdoor patio heaters on licensed premises.

Homelessness: Expenditure

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much homelessness grant was paid to each London local authority in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much homelessness grant was paid to voluntary sector organisations in each London constituency in each of the last five years.

Iain Wright: Since 2003-04, the majority of our homelessness grants are paid to local authorities to support them in their work on tackling and preventing homelessness effectively. Previously the majority of funding went direct to the voluntary sector. We do however continue to provide homelessness funding direct to the voluntary sector, where appropriate.
	The following table shows the level of revenue and capital funding allocated to London local authorities over the last five years.
	
		
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  London authority  Revenue (no capital allocated)  Revenue  Capital  Revenue  Capital 
			 Barking and Dagenham 68,000.00 28,000 — 28,000 — 
			 Barnet 435,000.00 165,000 — 214,000 88 
			 Bexley 130,800.00 58,000 — 58,000 — 
			 Brent 1,423,000.00 783,000 — 745,500 2,886,000 
			 Bromley 183,500.00 100,000 — 100,000 — 
			 Camden 1,834,192.00 1,800,000 — 1,600,000 3,172,000 
			 City of London 656,000.00 515,000 — 265,000 650,000 
			 Croydon Council 1,104,000.00 600,000 — 575,000 — 
			 Ealing 1,224,608.00 600,000 — 600,000 — 
			 Enfield 509,000.00 250,000 — 300,000 — 
			 GLA — 40,000 — — — 
			 Greenwich 113,000.00 100,000 — 63,000 — 
			 Hackney 646,000.00 640,000 — 637,000 — 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,300,500.00 1,500,000 470,000 1,624,000 1,127,000 
			 Haringey 473,500.00 200,000 — 200,000 — 
			 Harrow 181,000.00 183,000 — 290,000 — 
			 Havering 27,000.00 27,000 — 27,000 — 
			 Hillingdon 780,000.00 80,000 — 80,000 — 
			 Hounslow 459,000.00 180,000 — 165,000 — 
			 Islington 329,700.00 357,000 — 325,000 — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 1,565,511.00 943,000 — 875,000 1,350,000 
			 Kingston upon Thames 121,000.00 90,000 — 164,000 — 
			 Lambeth 1,388,739.00 2,100,000 — 2,000,000 — 
			 Lewisham 290,000.00 100,000 474,000 158,264 4,000,000 
			 Merton 75,000.00 80,000 — 192,000 — 
			 Newham 1,257,000.00 250,000 — 212,000 — 
			 Redbridge 292,000.00 105,000 — 100,000 — 
			 Richmond 386,576.00 295,000 — 295,000 — 
			 Southwark 766,524.00 1,100,000 353,000 1,063,000 200,000 
			 Sutton 193,000.00 150,000 — 115,000 — 
			 Tower Hamlets 876,050.00 800,000 — 810,000 1,090,000 
			 Waltham Forest 383,000.00 200,000 — 200,000 — 
			 Wandsworth 546,000.00 300,000 — 300,000 — 
			 Westminster 4,434,374.00 7,366,000 9,480,000 6,700,000 5,113,000 
			   
			 Totals 24,452,574 22,085,000 10,777,000 21,080,764 19,588,988 
		
	
	
		
			   2006-07  2007-08 
			  London authority  Revenue  Capital  Revenue (allocation s  to date)  Capital (allocation s  to date) 
			 Barking and Dagenham 100,000 — 105,300 — 
			 Barnet 327,000 — 180,000 — 
			 Bexley 88,000 — 140,000 — 
			 Brent 780,000 225,000 885,000 — 
			 Bromley 135,000 — 135,000 — 
			 Camden 1,870,000 3,150,000 1,600,000 — 
			 City of London 275,000 — 295,000 — 
			 Croydon Council 562,000 — 580,000 — 
			 Ealing 895,000 — 640,000 — 
			 Enfield 250,000 — 250,000 — 
			 GLA — — — — 
			 Greenwich 218,000 — 170,000 — 
			 Hackney 670,000 375,000 590,000 800,000 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 1,540,000 — 1,500,000 — 
			 Haringey 200,000 — 235,000 — 
			 Harrow 340,000 — 221,000 — 
			 Havering 90,000 — 135,000 — 
			 Hillingdon 130,000 — 100,000 — 
			 Hounslow 205,000 — 240,000 — 
			 Islington 415,000 250,000 400,000 — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 895,000 376,000 1,037,500 376,000 
			 Kingston upon Thames 215,000 — 120,000 — 
			 Lambeth 2,085,000 1,766,000 2,050,000 — 
			 Lewisham 140,000 150,000 130,000 800,000 
			 Merton 223,155 — 124,700 — 
			 Newham 200,000 111,650 200,000 — 
			 Redbridge 100,000 — 100,000 — 
			 Richmond 335,000 226,500 400,000 73,500 
			 Southwark 1,153,000 400,000 1,140,000 — 
			 Sutton 130,000 — 231,000 — 
			 Tower Hamlets 980,000 170,000 910,000 — 
			 Waltham Forest 240,000 — 240,000 — 
			 Wandsworth 290,000 — 352,000 — 
			 Westminster 6,600,000 525,000 6,600,000 — 
			  
			 Totals 22,676,155 7,725,150 22,036,500 2,049,500 
		
	
	The following table contains the level of funding allocated direct to voluntary sector agencies in London over the last five years as an overall figure and not by each London constituency:
	
		
			  Funding to London voluntary organisations 
			   Funding (£) 
			 2003-04 20,288,079 
			 2004-05 9,225,948 
			 2005-06 8,906,031 
			 2006-07 9,168,031 
			 2007-08 9,448,000

Housing Market: Regeneration

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research has been commissioned by  (a) Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders and  (b) her Department into property speculation in Pathfinder areas earmarked for demolition.

Iain Wright: As part of an ongoing national evaluation of the market renewal programme by Ecotec commissioned by the Government, a paper on buy-to-let activity was published in March 2007: "National Evaluation of Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders: Thematic Paper: Buy-to-Let Housing Market in the HMR Pathfinders".
	The thematic paper identified an increase in private investor activity within pathfinder areas since the implementation of the housing market renewal strategy. The emergence of this group of investors has had the impact of diversifying the structure of ownership within pathfinder areas. Commitment to the area has remained strong with the Association of residential Letting Agents (ARLA) reporting in 2004 that nearly two-thirds of respondents expected to hold their stock for at least 10 years and less than 10 per cent. would sell if house prices were to fall.
	We and the pathfinders will continue to review market conditions as a fundamental part of establishing strong housing markets across pathfinder areas.

Housing: Grants

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much housing renewal grant funding was allocated to the demolition of properties in each Pathfinder area in each year since 2004-05; and what the estimated figures are for  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09.

Iain Wright: The following table provides information on the amount of housing market renewal grant funding spent on the demolition of properties in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 as well as estimates of the likely spend in 2007-08. It is not yet possible to provide an estimate of spend on demolition for 2008-09. These figures cover costs relating directly to the demolition of properties and not their acquisition. To date funding under the Housing Market Renewal programme has delivered 10,000 demolitions and 40,000 refurbishments.
	
		
			   HMRF spent on demolition (£000) 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 estimates 
			 Birmingham Sandwell 209 918 186 285 
			 East Lancashire 501 294 309 480 
			 Hull and East Riding 0 581 285 560 
			 Manchester Salford 830 1,289 1,768 1,935 
			 Merseyside 343 852 1,106 1,884 
			 Newcastle Gateshead 1,135 1,494 1,167 1,000 
			 North Staffordshire 479 148 438 800 
			 Oldham Rochdale 297 244 275 550 
			 South Yorkshire 2,557 774 1,525 1,200 
			 Total 6,351 6,594 7,059 8,694

Housing: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the impact of immigration on  (a) new house building and  (b) previously occupied housing, with particular reference to Peterborough.

Iain Wright: holding answer 19 October 2007
	Information is not available centrally on the local impact of migration on household growth. At the England level, the 2004-based household projections show that, for England, 73,000 of the 223,000 annual average household growth (or 33 per cent.) is attributable to net migration.
	The draft East of England Plan includes a housing requirement for Peterborough of 25,000 additional dwellings between 2001 and 2021, which takes into account population growth and demographic change. It will be for Peterborough city council and its partners to assess locally how the demand and need for additional housing should be met through its existing and proposed housing stock.

Housing: Voluntary Organisations

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she is giving to local authorities on the implications of the Government's policy of promoting the role of the third sector in delivering services for the transfer or sale of buildings and other assets to voluntary organisations.

John Healey: As part of the Government's response to the Quirk Review on community management and ownership of public assets, Communities and Local Government intends to publish new guidance on local authority asset management in general, and including specific guidance on transferring physical assets to community management and ownership, in spring 2008.
	The Cabinet Office is directing specific funding support to partnerships of local authorities and third sector organisations to facilitate the transfer of physical assets from local authorities, through its £30 million Community Assets Fund.

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority: Finance

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the precept was on Band D council tax bills set by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority in each year since 1997-98;
	(2)  what the precept was on Band D council tax bills set by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority in each year since 1997-98.

John Healey: The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is funded by a levy on authorities in Essex, Hertfordshire and Greater London and not by a council tax precept.

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority: Finance

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether she plans to amend the Levying Bodies (General) Regulations 1992 in relation to the precept set by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

John Healey: There are currently no plans to amend the Levying Bodies (General) Regulations 1992 in relation to the levy set by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

Local Authorities: Pensions

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether each local authority pension fund in the East of England is in surplus or in deficit; and by how much in each case.

John Healey: The 89 funds that comprise the Local Government Pension Scheme in England and Wales are undergoing an actuarial valuation of their funds as at 31 March 2007, as required by the scheme's regulations. The outcome for each fund, including their solvency position, will not be known until later in the current financial year.
	In the meantime, the results from the 2004 valuation for English local authorities participating in the scheme are given at www.xoq83.dial.pipex.com/actvale.pdf

Local Government Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 3 September 2007,  Official Report, column 1683W to the hon. Member for Beckenham, on local government finance, whether the funding allocated for participatory budgeting in each of the pilot areas will entirely be allocated according to participation by the public.

John Healey: Participatory budgeting gives residents a real say in how part of a public budget is spent. The funding in each of the pilot areas set out in the reply of the 3 September 2007,  Official Report, column 1683W, is being allocated according to participation by the public.

Local Government Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) total budget and  (b) estimated administration costs are of each Government Office for the Region in England in 2007-08.

John Healey: The administration budgets for the Government Offices for the regions in 2007-08 are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   £ 
			 GO North East 12,022,830 
			 GO North West 16,115,770 
			 GO Yorks and Humber 13,941,830 
			 GO West Midlands 14,874,610 
			 GO East Midlands 10,944,000 
			 GO East 11,408,590 
			 GO South East 12,929,200 
			 GO South West 13,788,470 
			 GO London 16,305,340 
		
	
	Programme budgets administered by the Government Offices are the responsibility of the Secretaries of State for the relevant sponsor Departments.

Local Government Finance

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate her Department and its taskforces have made of the  (a) direct and  (b) indirect costs of local government inspection to (i) central Government and (ii) local government.

John Healey: The Audit Commission is the only inspectorate of local government to charge a fee element to authorities for inspection. The Department for Communities and Local Government is responsible for sponsorship of the Audit Commission. The total inspection fee income in 2006-07 published by the Commission was around £11 million. This is offset by Revenue Support Grant. CLG also pays grant to the Commission to underwrite the cost of its inspection activity. In 2006-07 this grant totalled £26 million.
	The Department does not hold information about the costs of inspection of local authorities by other local inspectorates.
	There are no definitive figures to calculate the indirect costs of inspection to local government. The Government are committed to changing the local inspection landscape and significantly reducing the cost and amount of inspection carried out; this includes reducing inspectorate expenditure by around a third over the medium term as overall inspectorate activity is reformed. Indirect costs of inspection are expected to reduce as the amount of inspection is reduced.

Parish Councils: Audit

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what representations her Department received from the Audit Commission to reform sections 15 and 16 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 in relation to the inspection of accounts and the fees levied on parish councils for carrying out such inspections.

John Healey: The Audit Commission made representations seeking reform of sections 15 (Inspection of documents and questions at audit) and 16 (Right to make objections at audit) of the Audit Commission Act 1998 in October 2005. These representations were considered and amendments to those sections are proposed in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill. These amendments, respectively, place restrictions on the rights of individuals to see personal information which is included within audited accounts, and withdraw objectors' rights to appear before the auditor to make objections, thereby limiting objections to those made in writing.
	The Audit Commission made further representations to the Department to reform sections 15 and 16 of the 1998 Act in June 2006.
	The representations in relation to section 15 asked for the section to be repealed, arguing that persons can already obtain information from auditors under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The representations in relation to section 16 asked for the section to be repealed, arguing that the right to make objections at audit is more efficiently met in other ways.
	These proposals are not included in the Bill currently before Parliament. Assurances have been given to the Audit Commission that these proposals will be carefully considered at the next legislative opportunity.

Parliament Square

John Butterfill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to ensure the use of land in Parliament Square as a campsite complies with the provisions of the Public Health Act 1936.

Iain Wright: holding answer 17 October 2007
	The Government are not intending to take any action to ensure Parliament Square as a campsite complies with section 269 of the Public Health Act 1936.
	The Mayor of London and the Greater London authority (GLA) are responsible for the management of the central gardens of Parliament Square, including any byelaws under section 385 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999. The Mayor has recently made it publicly clear that
	"the GLA can no more allow the Square to become an unauthorised camp site than would be the case with any other park or public square in London. Parliament Square does not have the facilities to be a campsite and must be a sanitary and healthy environment for all".

Regional Development Agencies: Planning

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the date is for the transfer of regional planning responsibilities from the regional chambers to the regional development agencies.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to my oral statement on 17 July 2007,  Official Report, column 161 announcing the publication of the "Review of sub-national economic development and regeneration.
	The review sets out the Government's proposals for the future of regional institutions including regional assemblies. Regional assemblies will continue as regional planning bodies until new arrangements are introduced.

Renewable Energy: Valuation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the presence of ground source heat pumps would be taken into account in the valuation of a property for business rate purposes by the Valuation Office Agency.

John Healey: The plant and machinery involved in heating a building by means of a ground source heat pump will form part of the premises, and its contribution to the rental value of the premises will be reflected in the assessment of rateable value.

Sand: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what sand reserves there are in Lancashire.

Iain Wright: Lancashire county council's latest estimate for their permitted sand and gravel reserves is 4.1 million tonnes (2007 figure). This figure reflects those sites with current planning permission.

Sand: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidelines are issued to Lancashire County Council on the amount of sand it is expected to produce each year.

Iain Wright: The Sand and Gravel Guideline (2001-16) produced by Communities and Local Government allocated 55 million tonnes for the North West. The North West regional assembly subsequently sub-regionally apportioned 8.2 million tonnes of this to Lancashire for this period. Sub-regional allocations are subject to periodic review.

Training: Expenditure

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what total public expenditure was on the  (a) Pathways to Work and  (b) Train to Gain programmes in 2006-07.

Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply
	Expenditure on Pathways to Work in 2006-07 was £93 million.
	Detailed operational information on the Train to Gain service is not held centrally by the Department but is collected by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). I have asked Mark Haysom, the LSC chief executive, to write directly to the hon. Member with the available information. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Packaging

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent submissions he has received on the contribution of packaging to domestic waste levels.

Joan Ruddock: This topic is raised with me frequently through my Department's mailbag.
	11 million tonnes of packaging waste was produced in the UK in 2006, of which 4.7 million tonnes ended up as household waste.

Flood Sirens: Norfolk

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the future provision of flood sirens in Norfolk.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Environment Agency provides flood warnings to the public by local radio and directly to individuals by telephone, mobile phone, text messages, emails, pagers and faxes through their Floodline Warnings Direct service. The agency considers these communication methods more effective than sirens.

Dairy Farming

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on profitability in the dairy farming sector.

Jonathan R Shaw: Immediate prospects for the UK dairy sector are much better than they have been for some time. This is due to the current positive world market situation leading to increasing world demand though we recognise that input costs have increased for many.

Single Farm Payment

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the administration of the single farm payment.

Hilary Benn: The Rural Payments Agency is undertaking a wide range of actions aimed at improving its performance in administering the single payment scheme (SPS). Action to date enabled the agency to meet its formal target of making over 96.14 per cent. of 2006 SPS payments by 30 June 2007.

Foot and Mouth

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many lorries were used to transport foot and mouth disease infected carcases to the incinerator during the most recent outbreak.

Hilary Benn: Since 3 August a total of 20 lorries were tasked to transport foot and mouth disease infected carcases to the Wessex incinerator in Somerset. A total of 40 journeys were made.

International Whaling Commission

Chris McCafferty: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage countries which support conservation to join the International Whaling Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: Embassies and missions abroad will shortly receive an updated version of the publication 'Protecting Whale—A Global Responsibility'.
	It will come with instructions to lobby their host governments to encourage more anti-whaling countries to join the International Whaling Commission and support the maintenance of the moratorium on commercial whaling.

High Energy Light Bulbs

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to phase out the use and availability of high energy light bulbs.

Hilary Benn: We are working with retailers, manufacturers, energy suppliers and the Energy Saving Trust, to voluntarily phase out inefficient light bulbs by 2011 in the UK, ahead of our European partners.
	Replacing bulbs with energy efficient alternatives will save up to 5 million tonnes of CO2 from electricity generation per year by 2012 and will also help reduce householders' energy bills.

Flood Risk

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the insurance industry on flood risk.

Hilary Benn: Ministerial colleagues, officials and I are in regular contact with the insurance industry and the Association of British Insurers. We are working together with the mutual aim of ensuring continued widespread availability of flood insurance cover through the association's Statement of Principles.

EU Set-aside Scheme

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of terminating the EU scheme for set aside.

Hilary Benn: We have already announced the actions we are taking, with the stakeholders concerned, in response to the EU decision to introduce a 0 per cent. set-aside rate for 2008, including careful monitoring to see what the environmental impact is. These will also help inform the options for retaining environmental benefits if set-aside is abolished as part of the CAP Healthcheck.

Climate Change Bill

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the Climate Change Bill.

Joan Ruddock: The Government's response to pre-legislative scrutiny and public consultation will be laid in Parliament very shortly ahead of the Bill's introduction in the forthcoming parliamentary session.

Flooding: Civil Installations

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the protection of key civil installations from flooding.

Hilary Benn: The operators of critical infrastructure are responsible for contingency planning to ensure continuity of service. This is also being considered by the independent review of the summer flooding, being led by Sir Michael Pitt.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on discussions he has had with  (a) IT consultants,  (b) stakeholders and  (c) the Rural Payments Agency on the delivery of partial single farm payments;
	(2)  whether he has had discussions on making part of the 2007 single farm payment before the 2007 payment window opens in December; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  when he expects to be able to begin making 2007 single farm scheme payments; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what consideration he has given to the merits of making partial single farm scheme payments in December 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what targets he has set for delivering 2007 single farm scheme payments; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has a formal target to pay 75 per cent. by value of valid 2007 single payment scheme claims by 31 March 2008 and 90 per cent. by 31 May 2008.
	In the light of the difficulties experienced by farmers as a result of flooding, FMD and bluetongue, RPA was asked to investigate the possibility of making payments in advance of the payment window on 1 December and/or or making partial payments. The agency has also been asked to ensure it has the capacity to make partial payments should this be necessary.
	However, having reviewed the options, my noble Friend, Lord Rooker, has confirmed to the RPA chief executive and industry stakeholders that the primary concern remains that the SPS system should be stabilised as soon as possible, so that the agency can deliver an improved, reliable service to the farming industry in future years. It is clear from RPA's advice that trying to make early payments now would undermine efforts to that end and introduce unacceptable disallowance risks, particularly as there is no EU legal basis for SPS 2007 partial payments. With this in mind, Ministers have agreed that RPA should instead work towards making more full payments to farmers earlier than last year but not set any arbitrary deadlines for the start of payments.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what his most recent estimate is of the amount of financial disallowance the European Commission will impose on the United Kingdom arising from the implementation of  (a) the common agriculture policy and  (b) the single farm payment scheme in (i) 2005, (ii) 2006 and (iii) 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he expects the European Commission to implement the disallowance relating to the implementation of common agricultural policy schemes and the single farm payment scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA has included provisions totalling £348 million in its resource accounts for 2006-07 in respect of potential financial corrections (disallowance) imposed by the European Commission for breaches of EC regulations in making payments for SPS 2005, SPS 2006 and other precursor common agricultural policy schemes. DEFRA also made an accrual for £63 million in respect of late payment penalties imposed in respect of SPS 2005. A further £7 million has been noted as a contingent liability. It is too early to make any formal assessment of the potential levels of disallowance in respect of SPS 2007.
	Detailed discussions will take place with the Commission over an extended period, possibly two or three years, before a final figure is reached on any disallowances. The outcome will be disclosed in the Department's resource accounts in the year in which any financial corrections are imposed.

Carbon Emissions

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department is funding into personal carbon allowances.

Phil Woolas: The Government are considering the potential value of personal carbon trading (PCT). This is one of a number of possible long-term options being explored to help individuals be better informed about, and involved in, tackling climate change.
	Following an initial scoping study produced for DEFRA by the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE), the Government are now carrying out a pre-feasibility study to assess whether PCT is a practical and viable policy option. We are working closely with other organisations conducting research in this area, and have designed the work programme to complement that being undertaken by researchers and academics such as the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) and the Royal Society for Arts (RSA).

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government have taken to enforce the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Jonathan R Shaw: Enforcement of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is the responsibility of the police and local authorities.
	Following the tragic events in Merseyside earlier this year, my officials have been in close contact with the police service. The police are taking forward initiatives to ensure that the law is enforced more effectively. I welcome this and my officials will work closely with the Association of Chief Police Officers to facilitate better enforcement of the law.
	DEFRA has already issued a guidance leaflet, "Types of dog prohibited in Great Britain", to assist enforcement agencies in identifying prohibited types of dog.

Dredging

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether assessments of dredging applications take into account possible risks to neighbouring sites, such as estuaries;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effects on the Dee Estuary of dredging neighbouring sites.

Jonathan R Shaw: The control of dredging operations depends upon the type of dredging involved.
	Port and harbour authorities generally have provisions under their local powers (granted by means of Harbour Orders) within their jurisdiction to carry out or to license others to conduct dredging activities—primarily for the purpose of securing or maintaining a safe navigation depth. Other dredging operations which may cause or be likely to result in obstruction or danger to navigation require consent under the Coast Protection Act 1949 (part II). Any disposal or beneficial placement of dredged arisings at sea is subject to licence control under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (part II). In certain cases, dredging activity may also require consent under the Land Drainage Act 1991.
	Regulatory authorities, in dealing with such applications to dredge, have a duty to consider if the proposed project, because of its nature, size and location will have a significant environmental effect. If so, the application must be accompanied by an Environmental Statement and its determination will be subject to an environmental impact assessment—normally in accordance with the Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007. Environmental Statements are scoped to address all the aspects of the project which may be affected by the project, including, typically in the case of dredging:
	i. impacts on the physical environment, including coastal and estuary morphology, hydrodynamics, sediment transport, water quality and the fate of disposed materials
	ii. ecological effects, on fish and other flora and fauna arising, for example, from removal of sea bed species/habitat, the mobilisation of any contaminants, noise and changes to the physical environment
	iii. risk to protected conservation sites and other sensitive sites
	iv. impacts on birds—especially to those dependant on inter-tidal areas and disturbance to marine mammals
	v. interference to the interests of others using the sea and their assets, including other commercial uses, leisure activities, fishing, subsea cables and marine archaeology
	vi. the in-combination and cumulative effects of other works.
	Many potential dredging areas also lie within or adjacent to the boundaries of designated European conservation sites. If the regulating authority consider that the dredging project is likely to have a significant impact on such a site, an appropriate assessment of the possible risk to the integrity of that site must be carried out in compliance with the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 1994.
	The commercial exploitation of sand and gravel (aggregate dredging) is regulated under the Environmental Impact Assessment and Natural Habitats (Extraction of Minerals by Marine Dredging) Regulations 2007.
	In 2001, applications were made by the port of Mostyn to conduct dredging operations within the inner and outer approach channels to the port. A consultation paper was issued under a public notice summarising the assessments conducted by the regulating authorities.
	Authorisations were granted by the regulators in the summer of 2005 for a limited dredge over a period of two years. Each of the approvals granted were subject to conditions that included a rigorous programme of monitoring, the results of which are currently being assessed.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the value was of each fisheries quota swap to each party involved in each year since 1997.

Jonathan R Shaw: This information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. In 2006, over 1,600 quota swaps occurred during the year, either internationally between the UK and other member states or internally between industry groups in the UK.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his estimate is of the value of the fish swapped in the cross year quota swap of 40 tonnes Area VII angler fish in 2007 to the South West Producer Organisation in exchange for 40 tonnes of Channel Plaice in 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: No such estimate has been made. The cross-year swap was undertaken to ensure that the Channel plaice fishery would be kept open to 10 metre and under vessels throughout 2006. Some 90 tonnes of plaice in total was acquired for this purpose including the 40 tonnes gained via this cross-year swap. Given the pressure on a number of inshore fisheries in the south and west last year, the value of the transfer was in ensuring that local fishing communities across the south coast were able to continue to land quota species until the end of the year.

Fisheries: Quotas

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what cross-year fisheries quota swaps have taken place in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: Most cross-year swaps between the UK and other member states are not agreed until the end of the current year or the start of the following one. They are usually completed to settle small overfishes by the UK or other member states. These swaps can allow extra fishing opportunities to be found for UK fishermen including the inshore sector. Additional quota for several valuable species was obtained by this means for 2007, and we will look to do the same in 2007-08. At the moment, only one cross-year swap has been finalised which has gained Channel cod in 2007 for the inshore sector by which, as part of a package, eight tonnes of VII anglerfish in 2008 has been given up.

Foot and Mouth Disease: Compensation

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the statement of 8 October,  Official Report, column 40, on foot and mouth/bluetongue, from what budget the £12.5 million assistance package will be drawn; and what proportion of this funding had been committed elsewhere previously.

Jonathan R Shaw: All expenditure relating to the foot and mouth disease and bluetongue outbreaks in 2007, including the £12.5 million assistance package, is being funded from within DEFRA's budget. DEFRA will manage these costs, as for all other in-year pressures, within the overall budget allocated to it and will be reviewing priorities accordingly.

Foot and Mouth Disease: Compensation

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  from which of his Department's budget headings the funding for the package of support measures for English farmers announced on 8 October will be provided;
	(2)  what proportion of the package of support measures for English farmers announced on 8 October will be provided from budgets used to provide services or programmes in England and Wales.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA will cover the cost of the package of support measures, as for all other in-year pressures, within the overall budget allocated to it and will be reviewing priorities accordingly.

Institute for Animal Health: Waste Disposal

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 October 2007,  Official Report, column 450W, on the Institute for Animal Health: waste disposal, what discussions he had with  (a) the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills and  (b) the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on the biosecurity of the Pirbright laboratory facility and its drainage system; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: Following the recent outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in Surrey, and the subsequent independent reviews by Professor Spratt and the Health and Safety Executive, discussions were held with the Minister for Science and Innovation in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. These discussions focussed on the outcome of those reviews and the Government's response to them.

Laboratories: Licensing

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  which laboratories have been licensed by his Department under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order 1998 with conditions that  (a) require and  (b) do not require routine inspections and risk assessments of drainage facilities;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 9 October 2007,  Official Report, column 450W, on the Institute for Animal Health: waste disposal, if he will bring forward amendments to the Specified Animal Pathogens Order 1998 to provide for the drainage systems of laboratories to be routinely inspected; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  on what dates Government research facilities handling animal pathogens for which his Department is responsible had their drainage systems  (a) inspected and  (b) risk assessed since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The drainage systems of laboratories licensed by DEFRA to handle specified animal pathogens under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order (SAPO) 1998 are not routinely inspected, nor is this a condition of a SAPO licence.
	However, following the recent outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD), DEFRA and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have issued a safety alert to all SAPO Category 3 and 4 laboratories. The alert relates to issues arising from the independent reviews carried out by Professor Spratt and the HSE into potential breaches of biosecurity at the Pirbright site. It requires all such laboratories to satisfy themselves that their facilities and procedures address all the issues identified by Professor Spratt and the HSE. DEFRA and the HSE will also undertake a programme of inspection at all SAPO Category 3 and 4 laboratories. SAPO licences for those laboratories have also been amended to make clear their responsibilities towards biosecurity.
	In addition, we have commissioned a review of the regulatory framework for animal pathogens under Sir Bill Callaghan. This review will include a consideration of the appropriate enforcement standards for animal pathogens, including issues such as drainage.

Pirbright Laboratory

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he received on biosecurity from  (a) the Institute for Animal Health,  (b) Merial,  (c) the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council,  (d) the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and its predecessor the Department for Trade and Industry and  (e) other sources on the Pirbright laboratory facility prior to August 2007.

Jonathan R Shaw: As lead regulator and licensor of the Institute for Animal Health and Merial under the Specified Animal Pathogens Order (SAPO) 1998, DEFRA held frequent discussions with representatives from those facilities about biosecurity prior to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Surrey. I am not aware of any representations specifically relating to biosecurity at the Pirbright facility from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the Department for Trade and Industry or other sources during this period.

Pirbright Laboratory: Sewers

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what risk assessments have been carried out at the Pirbright laboratory facility on the drainage system; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: DEFRA is not aware of any assessments that were carried out on the drainage system at the Pirbright facility prior to the investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into potential biosecurity breaches at the Pirbright site. Until then, there was no indication that there was a risk of effluent escaping from the drainage system, although it was recognised that the system was old and some concerns were brought to DEFRA's attention over the possibility of water leaking into the drains via the manhole covers.
	On 17 August 2007, the HSE informed DEFRA Ministers that leaks could have occurred from the system and DEFRA immediately contacted the Institute for Animal Health (IAH). That afternoon, IAH put into effect a plan controlling access and strengthening biosecurity measures around the movement of people and vehicles. Work also began immediately on restoring the integrity of the drains and manholes concerned. Further inspections of the site have shown that the work had been completed quickly and to a high standard.
	The report from the HSE investigation contains a detailed inspection of the drainage system, and is available from the DEFRA website and the Libraries of the House.

Seas and Oceans: Legislation

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to publish the Marine Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Government's draft legislative programme states that we are considering publishing a draft Marine Bill in the next Session of Parliament—we are working towards doing this in early 2008. Publishing the Marine Bill in draft will allow us to get the legislation right and lead to a better Bill.

Wetlands: Conservation

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on Government policy on the protection of marshes, wetlands and mud and salt flats in and around the Thames estuary and other major rivers.

Joan Ruddock: The Government are firmly committed to the protection of these habitats, both for the important biodiversity they support and the wider benefits they bring, such as natural flood defences, mitigation of climate change and public recreation. For these reasons, most of our major river estuaries have been designated as protected areas, including parts of the Thames, and development may only be permitted in exceptional circumstances.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Basic Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 12 September,  Official Report, column 2101W, on basic pensions, if he will estimate how many women aged  (a) 60,  (b) 61,  (c) 62,  (d) 63,  (e) 64,  (f) 65,  (g) 66,  (h) 67,  (i) 68 and  (j) 69 years are receiving pensions based on a contribution record of between 61 and 98 per cent.

Mike O'Brien: holding answer 8 October 2007
	The following table shows those women who are in receipt of a basic state pension of between 61 per cent. and 98 per cent. at September 2006 based on their own national insurance record.
	
		
			  Age  Number of females 
			 60 120,400 
			 61 115,500 
			 62 117,200 
			 63 103,700 
			 64 89,500 
			 65 74,600 
			 66 68,600 
			 67 63,100 
			 68 57,300 
			 69 49,200 
			  Notes: 1. Data are taken from a five per cent. extract of the Pension Service computer system, therefore figures are subject to a degree of sampling variation. They are also adjusted to be consistent with the overall caseload from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. 2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100. 3. Figures include cases residing abroad where the rate of state pension would not be uprated each year. 4. Where a women is entitled to a pension based on a combination of her own and her husband's record only the element from her own record has been used in the compilation of the table, as was the case with the answer of 12 September,  Official Report, column 2101W 5. Full basic state pension at September 2006 was £84.25.  Source: DWP Information Directorate

Child Support Agency Annual Report 2006-07

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the reasons are for the time taken to produce the Child Support Agency's Annual Report for 2007; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when the Child Support Agency Annual Report 2007 will be published.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 25 October 2007:
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the reasons are for the time taken to produce the Child Support Agency's Annual Report for 2007; and if he will make a statement.
	and
	You also asked when the Child Support Agency Annual Report 2007 will be published.
	National Audit Office (NAO) decided before summer recess that they needed to undertake further work on the Child Support Agency's Client Funds Account. This has resulted in a delay in these accounts being finalised. As a result, the Agency was not in a position to lay the Annual Report and Accounts for 2006/07 in the House of Commons, or publish them before recess as planned.
	The Agency's Administration Account was finalised with an unqualified audit opinion before recess. This ensured that the Department's resource accounts could be finalised and published.
	The Agency has continued to work with NAO over the summer. They have now concluded their work, which has allowed the Agency to complete the Client Funds Account. The NAO have prepared a draft report for inclusion in the Agency's Annual Report which is currently under consideration. Once the NAO Report has been finalised the Agency will arrange for the Annual Report and Accounts for 2006/07 to be laid in the House of Commons and for their subsequent publication. I am afraid I am unable to give a definitive date for publication at this stage.
	The Office for National Statistics published the Quarterly Summary of Statistics (QSS) on the 24(th) October 2007. It contains the most up date information on the Agency's Performance. I have included details of the internet link below for ease of reference.
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/2007/oct/hse044-241007.pdf
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Child Support Agency: ICT

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the progress of Child Support Agency IT upgrade initiatives.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
	 Letter from Stephen Geraghty, dated 25 October 2007:
	In reply to your Parliamentary Question about the Child Support Agency, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the progress of Child Support Agency IT upgrade initiatives.
	The Agency introduced a three year Operational Improvement Plan in 2006; in the first year concentrating on improving customer service and building capacity and capability within the organisation and in the second year focusing on resolving the remaining IT difficulties and increasing compliance and enforcement. Although a great deal of work has already been carried out to improve the stability of the new computer system and operational performance has improved, the Agency plans to make a major IT upgrade within the second year of the OIP, which ends in March 2008.
	This upgrade will primarily provide system support for the Agency's new operating model, which introduced client lifecycle segmentation, enabling the Agency to better target its resources to make more difference for more children. The Agency has also developed a new training programme, which will better support its people to make the best use of the improving IT system. This programme will ensure that training can be delivered where and when it is required.
	In the final year of the Operational Improvement Plan the Agency aims to reap the benefits of the restructuring, adding incremental system functionality, consolidating the improvements and aiming to collect more than 1bn in maintenance for children.
	I hope you find this answer helpful.

Departments: Policy

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what policy changes his Department has implemented since 27 June 2007.

Caroline Flint: The Department's objectives to eradicate child poverty, promote employment opportunity for all, and ensure pensioners have a secure retirement are some of the most challenging social ambitions ever set by Government. This Department is constantly reviewing its policies to ensure that we meet these challenges, and we keep Parliament fully informed of any changes.
	Since 27 June, we have made a number of announcements. For example, on 18 July we published In work—better off which contains the Government's proposals on the next steps towards its aim of full employment. This was accompanied by a statement in the House. On 26 July, the Pensions Act 2007 received Royal Assent. Reforms in the Act will start to come into effect from 2010 onwards and will make state pensions simpler, fairer and more generous.

Employment: Finance

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the  (a) average cost of getting a person back into work in each year since 1997 and  (b) the average savings to the Government for each individual that has moved off benefits and into work, including tax uplift and the cost of tax credits and other work-related benefits.

Caroline Flint: Information is not available on the average cost of getting a person back into work in each year since 1997.
	Information on the average savings to the Government for each individual that has returned off benefits and into work is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Estimates of the average fiscal saving of moving benefit claimants into employment in 2006-07 
			   Amount (£) 
			 Jobseeker's allowance claimant 7,103 
			 Incapacity benefit claimant 7,642 
			 Income support (lone parent) claimant 4,386 
			  Note: These estimates rely on a number of assumptions and are intended to be indicative rather than definitive.

European Social Charter

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the UK's  (a) compliance with and  (b) reporting to the European Committee of Social Rights on the European Social Charter.

James Plaskitt: The United Kingdom ratified the European Social Charter on 11 July 1962. The Government have accepted 60 of the charter's 72 paragraphs and believes that it is compliant with all of those accepted paragraphs. The UK complies with its reporting obligations in regard to the charter and between 1965 and 2006 submitted a total of 26 reports on its application. The United Kingdom's next report, which relates to the theme of employment, training and equal opportunities, will be submitted by the end of this year in line with the reporting timetable.

Financial Assistance Scheme: Compensation

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Financial Assistance Scheme has paid out in compensation to qualifying members.

Mike O'Brien: As at 12 October 2007 the Financial Assistance Scheme has paid out a total of £9,478,123 (gross).

Fuel Poverty

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to tackle long-term fuel poverty.

Mike O'Brien: The Department for Work and Pensions is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the energy industry, and the voluntary sector to tackle fuel poverty in the UK. Warm Front grants, benefit entitlement checks and the reduction of VAT on fuel has helped many customers not only have an increase in benefit, but also more energy efficient homes which result in lower fuel bills.
	The Department is responsible for the winter fuel payment which pays most households £200 where someone is over 60, and £300 if the household includes someone aged 80 or over. In addition, Pension credit is playing a major roll in delivering substantial increases in income to pensioners with only modest savings or occupational pensions. The Pension Service Local Service carry out a benefit check as part of their interviews and refer customers to Warm Front if appropriate.
	The Department is also assisting in the reduction in fuel poverty through its work in tackling child poverty. By promoting the Government aim to provide employment opportunities for all, with work for those that can and support for those who cannot, Jobcentre Plus has assisted in the significant reduction of children in low-income households.

Industrial Health and Safety: Formaldehyde

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Government has undertaken an impact assessment on the recommendations of the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits to reduce occupational exposure limit values for formaldehyde to 0.2 ppm for 8-hour time weighted average and to 0.4 ppm for short-term exposure limits (up to 15 minutes).

Anne McGuire: The European Commission's Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits (SCOEL) published its final recommendation on occupational exposure limits for formaldehyde in August 2007. The recommendation is currently being considered by the European Commission (Directorate General Employment and Social Affairs) and in the tripartite Working Party on Chemicals in the Workplace.
	It has not yet been agreed whether or not formaldehyde will be included in the annex to a third indicative occupational exposure limit values (IOELV) directive or at what level an IOELV for formaldehyde will be set. Once a formal proposal is put forward, the Health and Safety Executive will carry out an impact assessment to estimate the effect on industry of workplace exposure limits set at these levels.

Jobcentre Plus

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 10 October 2007,  Official Report, columns 2368-9W, on Jobcentre Plus, whether an investigation was conducted on the performance of Jobcentre Plus districts against their points profile; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the right hon. Gentleman with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 25 October 2007:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about whether an investigation was conducted into the performance of Jobcentre Plus districts against their Job Outcome Target (JOT) profiles. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus maintains a close watch on all of its targets and is acutely aware of the importance of JOT as a measure of its performance in helping customers move into work. Jobcentre Plus has made significant efforts to improve its understanding of how to manage JOT and has taken a number of steps to address the shortfall in performance both at national and district levels. It may be helpful if I explain some of these initiatives.
	Together with DWP, Jobcentre Plus developed Key Management Indicators (KMIs) to help ensure that staff deliver required work focused interviews for our key customer groups at the right time. These KMIs were subsequently reviewed and, for 2007-08, developed into a new Interventions Delivery Target (IDT) to give an even sharper focus to the timely delivery of work-focused support. In addition, an adviser achievement tool was developed to help ensure interventions were the right quality and properly targeted, with appropriate job submissions.
	Recent research published on the national evaluation of JOT(1) concluded that, JOT is largely working as intended. In particular, JOT was seen as supporting the trend of encouraging the use of self help channels among customers who were closer to the labour market, and therefore enabling resources to be concentrated more intensively on providing assistance to 'harder to help' groups. JOT was also viewed as influencing more efficient working practices (for example through more effective use of the Adviser Discretionary Fund), an increased willingness of staff to refer customers to provision and improved team working. This research did not specifically look at performance against JOT profiles.
	Other performance management actions include establishing a standing JOT Key Performance Group, chaired by a senior operational Director, to review and direct performance management activities. More recently, steps are being taken to develop Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs), expand the use of work trials, and further up-skill advisers and managers in managing JOT performance.
	(1) JOT National Evaluation , DWP Research Report 462, October 2007

National Insurance: Lancashire

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers were issued to non-UK citizens resident in Ribble Valley in each of the last five years.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available for parliamentary constituencies prior to April 2005 and for local authorities prior to April 2004. The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  National insurance number registrations in respect of non-UK nationals in Ribble Valley parliamentary constituency and Ribble Valley local authority 
			  Year of registration  Ribble Valley constituency  Ribble Valley local authority 
			 2004-05 — 80 
			 2005-06 280 140 
			 2006-07 360 210 
			  Notes: 1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Numbers are based on 100 per cent data from the National Insurance Recording System (NIRS). 4. Parliamentary constituency and local authority is assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory. 5. Parliamentary constituency and local authority counts are based on the most recently recorded address of the National Insurance number recipient.  Source: 100 per cent sample at 25 June 2005, 17 June 2006 and 14 May 2007 from the National Insurance Recording System (NIRS).

New Deal for Young People: Berkshire

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of participants in the new deal for young people in  (a) Reading,  (b) Wokingham and  (c) Berkshire were repeat participants in the last year for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: New deal for young people has helped 1,140 people in the Reading district authority area, 240 people in the Wokingham district authority area and 3,650 people in the county of Berkshire into work since it started in January 1998.
	In the period March 2006 to February 2007(1) 31 per cent. of those on the programme in the Reading district authority area, 27 per cent. of those on the programme in the Wokingham district authority area and 27 per cent. of those on the programme in the county of Berkshire(2) were repeat participants.
	(1 )Latest available data is to February 2007
	(2 )The county of Berkshire consists of the unitary authorities of West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Reading, and Slough.
	 Note:
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

New Deal for Young People: Berkshire

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of participants in the new deal for young people in  (a) Reading,  (b) Wokingham and  (c) Berkshire returned to receiving jobseeker's allowance (i) immediately and (ii) within one year after leaving the new deal in (A) 2006 and (B) 2004.

Caroline Flint: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Percentage of new deal for young people (NDYP) participants returning to receive jobseeker's allowance (JSA) after leaving new deal 
			   2004  2006 
			   Reading  Wokingham  Berkshire  Reading  Wokingham  Berkshire 
			 Immediately 9 n/a 11 11 14 14 
			 Within one year 33 29 32 n/a n/a n/a 
			  Notes: 1. The county of Berkshire consists of the unitary authorities of West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Reading, and Slough. 2. The number of people who left NDYP to return immediately to JSA in Wokingham in 2004 is too low to calculate a percentage. 3. Complete data are not yet available for the percentage of participants in 2006 who returned to JSA after leaving new deal to be calculated as JSA data are only available to February 2007. 4. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 5. All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.  Source:  Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions.

New Deal for Young People: Forest of Dean

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of participants in the New Deal for Young People in the Forest of Dean district were repeat participants in the last year for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: New Deal for Young People has helped 710 people into work in the Forest of Dean District since it started in January 1998. In the period March 2006 to February 2007(1)( )36 per cent. of those on the programme in the Forest of Dean District were repeat participants.
	(1) Latest available data.

New Deal for Young People: Jobseekers Allowance

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of participants in the new deal for young people in  (a) Pembrokeshire,  (b) Wales and  (c) the UK returned to receive jobseeker's allowance (i) immediately and (ii) within one year in (A) 2006 and (B) 2004.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 16 October 2007
	The available information is in the following table.
	Complete data are not yet available to allow the percentage of leavers in 2006 who return to JSA within one year to be calculated as the latest JSA data are available only to February 2007.
	
		
			  Percentage of new deal for young people participants returning to receive JSA 
			   2004  2006 
			   GB  Wales  Pembrokeshire  GB  Wales  Pembrokeshire 
			 Immediately returning to JSA 12 13 17 17 15 13 
			 Returning to JSA within one year 42 42 43 n/a n/a n/a 
			  Notes: 1. All figures have been rounded to the nearest ten. 2. All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. 3. Latest available data are to the end of February 2007. 4. Data are available for GB only 5. Data on participants returning to JSA within one year are not available for 2006 as benefit data are only available up to February 2007 and this would not allow 12 months to have passed for all leavers.  Source: Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions, 2007

New Deal for Young People: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of participants in the New Deal for Young People in Milton Keynes unitary authority were repeat participants in the last year for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint: New Deal for Young People has helped 1,630 people into work in the Milton Keynes local authority area since it started in January 1998. In the period March 2006 to February 2007(1) 36 per cent. of those on the programme in the Milton Keynes local authority area were repeat participants.
	(1) Latest available data.

Occupational Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of the working age population that belonged to an employer-sponsored defined benefit pension scheme in each year since 1997.

Mike O'Brien: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is presented in the following table.
	
		
			  An estimate of the percentage of the working-age population who belong to an employer-sponsored defined benefit pension scheme by year 
			   Number in defined benefit scheme( 1)  (million)  Working age population ( 2,3)  Percentage of working age population in a defined benefit scheme 
			 1991 9.7 35,196,728 28 
			 1995 9.2 35,365,374 26 
			 2000 9.0 36,138,280 25 
			 2004 8.6 37,083,156 23 
			 2006 8.5 37,706,563 23 
			 (1) Pension scheme membership figures are estimates and are taken from the Occupational Pension Scheme Survey. Data for years 1991, 1995, 2000 and 2004 were produced by the Government Actuary's Department (GAD). Data for 2006 were produced by the Office for National Statistics. 2006 is the latest year published. The coverage of the survey is the UK. (2) Population figures are estimates and are taken from Table 1 of the mid-year population estimates and were produced by the Office for National Statistics. 2006 is the latest year published. (3) The working age population is defined as males aged 16 to 64 and females aged 16 to 59.  Note: To be eligible for membership of an occupational pension scheme, including defined benefit schemes, a person must be an employee working for an employer offering such a scheme.

Pension Credit

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people stopped claiming pension credit in each of the last three years, broken down by reason for non-continuance;
	(2)  how many people stopped claiming pension credit in each of the last three years, broken down by income decile.

Mike O'Brien: We do not have the detailed information in the form requested but the number of pension credit claims that were closed 2004 to 2006 for various reasons including death were as follows:
	
		
			   Number of claims closed 
			 2004 227,640 
			 2005 261,640 
			 2006 255,290 
			  Notes: 1. The number of claims are rounded to the nearest 10.  2. A pension credit claim can be made for an individual only or on behalf of a household.  3. Yearly totals cover the period from 1 December to 30 November because they are derived from summing quarterly figures.   Source:  DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent data

Pension Service: Correspondence

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many letters sent by the Pensions Service were misdirected in each of the last 10 years.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not available in the format requested.
	The Pension Service makes every effort to issue letters to customers at their last verified address. There have been a few isolated incidents of mistakes, but where letters do go to an incorrect address this is usually for a variety of other reasons, such as the customer moving and inadvertently omitting to let the Pensions Service know of their change of address.

Pension Service: Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many members of the Pensions Service Board are entitled to a final salary pension.

Mike O'Brien: At the present time there are 10 members of the Pension Service Board of whom eight are entitled to a final salary pension. The two non- executive members are not currently in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Pension Service: Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Pensions Service spent on its own pension scheme in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The available information is in the table.
	The Pension Service as an employing unit within the Department for Work and Pensions has contributed towards funding of the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme as follows:
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 2004-05 29,520,158.51 
			 2005-06 42,706,687.51 
			 2006-07 44,517,581.07

Pensions

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 769W, on pensions, how many of the estimated number of people with pension losses are  (a) at or above age 65 years and  (b) at or above their scheme retirement age.

Mike O'Brien: The answer given by the former Minister of State my right hon. Friend the Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (James Purnell) on 16 May 2007,  Official Report, column 769W, remains the best available estimate.
	We expect that updated estimates will be available in November.

Pensions: Complaints

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many complaints about handling of claims for the state pension the Pensions Service received in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The available information is in the following table.
	Complaints to the Pension Service are not categorised into benefit areas. The information given is for all complaints received in the last five years.
	
		
			  April to March  Total number of complaints received by the Pension Service 
			 2002-03 12,140 
			 2003-04 38,957 
			 2004-05 25,420 
			 2005-06 22,179 
			 2006-07 16,986 
		
	
	During 2003-04 the Pension Service embarked upon a series of workshops to emphasise the importance of recording and analysing feedback. This resulted in a significant rise in the feedback collected.

Pensions: Databases

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many large databases there are at the National Pensions Centre; what each one is used for; and what data are held in each one.

Mike O'Brien: The Pension Service, including the National Pensions Centre, has access to four primary systems. Each system has an associated database which holds data appropriate to the processing needs of the business.
	The systems/databases are:
	(a) Pension Strategy Computer System (PSCS) which is used for processing state pension and contains data appropriate to the following:
	(i) Income Support Computer System (ISCS) which is used for processing pension credit;
	(ii) Customer Information System (CIS) which holds a central index of personal details; and
	(iii) National Insurance Recording System (NIRS2) which holds national insurance contribution history.

Pensions: Personal Savings

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who are saving insufficient funds for retirement.

Mike O'Brien: Estimates published in the White Paper: Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system, suggest that approximately 7 million people are not saving enough to give them retirement incomes they are likely to consider adequate.
	Estimates of the current level of under saving for retirement are difficult to construct due to the difficulties identifying appropriate saving targets; uncertainties about which kinds of wealth and assets to take into account; difficulties projecting individuals' future saving and working patterns, particularly around choice of retirement age; and reliance on a range of other uncertain assumptions, including the impact of future macro-economic developments. Consequently such estimates should be treated cautiously.

Poverty

David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the statistical measurement of living in poverty is in the UK.

Caroline Flint: Poverty is a complex and multidimensional issue and, as such, there are many possible measures of poverty. To reflect this, there are a wide range of indicators included in opportunity for all.
	While income alone does not provide a wide enough measure of poverty, it is generally accepted that low income is central to any poverty measurement. The most common measure of low income used to capture poverty is individuals living in households with an income below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income, adjusted to take account of family size and composition.
	The public service agreement (PSA) to halve child poverty includes three indicators of child poverty. These are relative low income (below 60 per cent. contemporary median household income), absolute low income (below 60 per cent. of 1998-99 median income uprated in line with prices), and combined low income and material deprivation.
	The new PSA 'Tackle poverty and promote greater independence in later life' includes three indicators related to low income for pensioners. These are relative low income (below 60 per cent. contemporary median household income), relative low income (below 50 per cent. contemporary median household income), and absolute low income (below 60 per cent. of 1998-99 median income uprated in line with prices).

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what special training is received by doctors contracted by his Department to carry out personal capability assessments in severe and enduring mental health problems.

Anne McGuire: The doctors who are contracted by Atos Healthcare to carry out personal capability assessments on behalf of this Department receive comprehensive benefit-specific training across the full range of conditions and disabilities, including mental health conditions, before they can carry out medical examinations, assessments or give advice regarding benefit claims.
	The training enables them to carry out personal capability assessments whatever the customer's condition or disability, as it concentrates on gathering and evaluating information and using it to determine and explain the functional effects of a person's condition so that a decision maker can use that information to decide entitlement to benefit. Doctors are only approved to carry out this work once they have demonstrated full competence, and the quality of their work will continue to be monitored to maintain high standards. Specific training modules are delivered that cover mental health problems and doctors are provided with evidence-based medicine guidance modules in specific mental health conditions and on learning disabilities.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many personal capability assessments were carried out by Atos Healthcare for his Department in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of these were reviewing  (a) mental health,  (b) physical health and  (c) both mental and physical health.

Anne McGuire: In the 12 months to September 2007, Atos Healthcare undertook 528,380 personal capability assessments. Information about the number of assessments that were reviewing mental or physical health is not available as it is not possible to break the figure down by incapacity.

Social Security Benefits: Unemployment

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people had their benefits reduced as a consequence of not taking a reasonable job offer in each of the last 10 years.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of customers sanctioned 
			 2000-01 23,040 
			 2001-02 32,250 
			 2002-03 36,002 
			 2003-04 24,610 
			 2004-05 19,580 
			 2005-06 12,270 
			 2006-07 6,370 
			  Note: Information prior to 2000 is not available.  Source: DWP: JSA Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database 
		
	
	During the period in question, the decline in decisions to apply sanctions for refusing employment coincides with an increase in decisions to apply sanctions to those who have either not done enough to find work or who are unreasonably restricting their availability for work.

State Retirement Pensions: Overseas Residence

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many International Pension Centre clients  (a) live permanently abroad and  (b) require documents to be translated into a language other than English.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is as follows.
	 (a) The International Pension Service serves some 1.071 million people who receive state pension and 37.7 thousand people who receive working age benefits who are resident abroad.
	 (b) The information requested is not available. A small number of customers request information to be provided in a language other than English; that is arranged on a case-by-case basis and central records are not maintained.

Unemployed: Elderly

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many men aged between 60 and 65 years are required to sign on at job centres but are not receiving any benefits.

Caroline Flint: Men between age 60 and 65 may choose to sign on in order to seek work but no one is required to do so.

Winter Fuel Payments: Hemsworth

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners in Hemsworth constituency claimed the winter fuel allowance in each year since its introduction.

Mike O'Brien: Information relating to winter fuel payments for the winters of 1997-98 and 1998-99 is not available. The information from winter 1999-2000 is in the following table.
	
		
			  Hemsworth constituency 
			   Payments made 
			 1999-2000 15,130 
			 2000-01 17,360 
			 2001-02 17,410 
			 2002-03 17,780 
			 2003-04 18,130 
			 2004-05 18,160 
			 2005-06 18,330 
			 2006-07 18,710 
			  Notes:  1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10.  2. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant ONS postcode directory.  Source: Information directorate 100 per cent data

HEALTH

Acute Beds

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were treated in each acute hospital in England in each year since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: Data are not collected in the format requested on a total count of patients but a count of finished in-year admissions which is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider.
	A copy of the data that is available has been placed in the Library.

Airedale NHS Trust: Cancer

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the proposed changes to oncology provision at Airedale NHS Trust; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Any decision on changes to the provision of cancer care at Airedale NHS Trust will be taken by the trust and its partner organisations in the Yorkshire Cancer Network, which co-ordinates services in the area and ensures that they appropriately meet the needs of the region. The trust has sought to engage with cancer patients and other stakeholders and to take account of their views and concerns throughout the process.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals aged 11 to 18 years resident in the Peterborough constituency were treated for alcohol-related health problems in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: Information is not available by constituency. However, the table following shows the number of finished admission episodes at the former Peterborough Hospital NHS Trust covering the period 1997-98 to 2003-04 and for the Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for the period 2004-05 and 2005-06, where there was a primary diagnosis of alcohol related disease for those aged between 11 to 18 at admission for the period 1997-98 to 2005-06.
	
		
			   Finished admission episodes 
			 1997-98 19 
			 1998-99 14 
			 1999-00 15 
			 2000-01 22 
			 2001-02 19 
			 2002-03 14 
			 2003-04 29 
			 2004-05 23 
			 2005-06 10 
			  Notes:  1. Finished admission episodes—A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.  2. Diagnosis (Primary Diagnosis)—The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the HES data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.  3. Data Quality—HES are compiled from data sent by over 300 national health service trusts and primary care trusts in England. The Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain.   Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Information Centre for health and social care. 
		
	
	Peterborough has a rate of 58.35 for persons admitted to hospital due to alcohol specific conditions (under 18s) crude rate per 100,000, 2003-04 to 2005-06. Persons admitted to hospital due to alcoholic specific conditions (under 18s), North West Public Health Observatory from HES and Office for national Statistics mid-year population estimates). Does not include attendance at A and E (not available nationally).
	This ranks Peterborough as 180 against all other local authorities in England and is higher than the regional average of 40.58.
	The Government are determined to prevent harm to those under 18 years of age and this is a priority group in Safe.Sensible.Social the national alcohol strategy June 2007. To help young people and their parents make informed decisions about drinking, the Government will provide authoritative, accessible guidance about what is and what is not safe and sensible in the light of the latest available evidence from the UK and abroad. It will ensure that the laws and licensing powers protect young people and continue to prioritise reductions in the test purchase failure rate for under age sales of alcohol.

Ambulance Services: Obesity

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many ambulance services have replaced their fleet of ambulances in order to deal with obese people.

Ben Bradshaw: This information is not collected centrally.
	It is for each NHS ambulance trust to decide how best to respond to each patient based on individual circumstance and clinical need. The fleet mix will vary across the country depending on operational and geographical requirements, and each ambulance service should plan to provide appropriate resources.

Baby Care Units: Nurses

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nurses were in training for qualifications in neonatal specialty in each year from 2002 to 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: This information is not collected centrally.
	We are increasing the numbers of qualified nurses in neonatal care as the number of qualified paediatric nurses increased by 3,293 or 21.5 per cent. between 1997 and September 2006.

Benzodiazepines: Misuse

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people who misuse benzodiazepines presented themselves for treatment to the statutory drug treatment services in each year since 2000.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of people in treatment for benzodiazepine addiction since 2004-05, in the years we have the information available, is shown in the following table. The data in the table from the national drug treatment monitoring system show benzodiazepines as the main drug of use, and the secondary drug of use.
	
		
			  Benzodiazepine users 
			  Number 
			   Main drug  Second drug 
			 2004-05 2,343 7,338 
			 2005-06 2,666 9,337 
			 2006-07 2,548 10,245

Benzodiazepines: Misuse

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provision is made by the statutory drug treatment services for the treatment of clients whose primary problem is misuse of benzodiazepines.

Dawn Primarolo: In all areas of the country, those with an addiction to any drug should have access to a range of services in both the primary and secondary care settings to meet their needs. Treatment services are not categorised by a specific drug of dependence.
	To support local areas in doing this the Government makes available substantial funding in the form of the pooled drug treatment budget to drug action teams, who are best placed to commission services to meet the needs of the local population.

Chlamydia: Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals Trust

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diagnoses of chlamydia there were in the Peterborough and Stamford hospitals trust area in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: Information on diagnoses of chlamydia in genitourinary clinics (GUM) is only available by strategic health authority (SHA). The total number of chlamydia infections diagnosed in the East of England SHA since 1997 to 2006, the latest date for which figures are available, which includes Peterborough and Stamford hospital trust is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of infections 
			 1997 2944 
			 1998 3620 
			 1999 4220 
			 2000 4894 
			 2001 5531 
			 2002 6470 
			 2003 7178 
			 2004 8031 
			 2005 8369 
			 2006 8300 
			  Notes: 1. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are for diagnoses made in GUM clinics only. Diagnoses made in other clinical settings, such as general practice, are not recorded in the KC60 dataset. 2. The data available from the KC60 statutory returns are the number of diagnoses made, not the number of patients diagnosed. For example, individuals may be diagnosed with several co-infections and each diagnosis will be counted separately. 3. The information provided has been adjusted for missing clinic data.  Source: Health Protection Agency, KC60 returns 
		
	
	In addition to diagnoses made in GUM clinics, the National Chlamydia Screening programme (NCSP) has been running since 2003. The number of people diagnosed with chlamydia within the programme in the East of England SHA are shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2003-04 79 
			 2004-05 264 
			 2005-06 562 
			 2006-07 1343 
			  Source: NCSP

Chlamydia: Screening

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his most recent estimate is of the number of community pharmacies which offer chlamydia screening;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the pharmacy chlamydia screening pathfinder project; when the project started; when he expects the findings of the project to be published; and what plans he has to introduce pharmacy screening of chlamydia on a national basis.

Dawn Primarolo: Screening for chlamydia in pharmacies is already happening nationally. In 2006-07, the national chlamydia screening programme (NCSP) received data from 90 pharmacies in England. The NCSP currently have 286 pharmacies who have registered to provide screening.
	To support commissioners, the Department is working with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and the national health service to develop a national template for a chlamydia screening local enhanced service through the NHS community pharmacy contractual framework.
	The Boots chlamydia screening pathfinder started in November 2005 and covers over 200 London stores. It is being independently evaluated by TNS Healthcare. Copies of the Chlamydia Screening Evaluation—Interim Report Wave One November 2005 to April 2006 and Chlamydia Screening Evaluation—Interim Report Wave 2 November 2005 to October 2006 reports have been placed in the Library. The third and final report will be published later in the year.

Dental Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of dental practices in England he estimates offer NHS dental services to at least two-thirds of their patients.

Ann Keen: This information is not available. Dentists who hold national health service contracts are only required to report treatment delivered within that contract to the Department. Information is not collected on the level of private treatment, if any, also delivered.

Dental Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 September 2007,  Official Report, column 2205W, on dental services 
	(1)  whether his Department reviews the local needs assessment of primary care trusts;
	(2)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the provision of NHS dentistry against assessed need.

Ann Keen: Primary care trusts are responsible for providing or commissioning primary dental care services to reflect local needs. This is a local rather than centrally managed process. The Department has issued guidance to the local national health service on developing local dental commissioning plans. Additional support is available through the national Primary Care Contracting Team.

Dental Services: Eastern Region

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of dentists in each county in the East of England are taking on new NHS patients.

Ann Keen: Data on dentists accepting new national health service patients are not collected centrally.

Dental Services: Eastern Region

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of dentists in each county in the East of England undertake NHS work.

Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. However, The Information Centre for Health and Social Care only holds information for dentists that derive at least part of their income from a national health service primary care trust (PCT) contract to provide NHS dental treatment.
	The numbers of NHS dentists at PCT and strategic health authority (SHA) level as at 30 June, 30 September, 31 December 2006 and 31 March 2007 are available in Table El of Annex 3 of the "NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2006/07 report".
	This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006. This report is available in the Library and is also available at:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0607
	The inclusion of dentists on trust led contracts in the data collection following the 2006 reforms means that data collected since April 2006 cannot be directly compared with data collected under the previous system.
	Note that the numbers quoted are headcounts and do not differentiate between full and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.
	The report has been published by The Information Centre for Health and Social Care.

Departments: Alcoholic Drinks

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many bottles of champagne his Department has purchased in the last 12 months.

Dawn Primarolo: The financial records of the departments expenditure in the last 12 months does not indicate any purchases of champagne being made.

Departments: Correspondence

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department follows on the maximum time taken to respond to hon. Members' correspondence; and what performance against that target was in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury on 22 October 2007,  Official Report, columns 23-24W.

Departments: Manpower

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were employed by his Department on 1 January in each of the last five years; and how many of these staff were  (a) permanent employees,  (b) temporary staff and  (c) contractors.

Dawn Primarolo: The information is taken from a variety of sources, although it is not possible to provide it for the reference date of 1 January. For 2007, it is published by the Office for National Statistics in Table 6 of the Quarterly Public Sector Employment First Release for the latest year (31 March 2007), these are available at:
	www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pse0607.pdf
	This is the key official source of work force numbers for the civil service and provides a breakdown of permanent and temporary/casual employees by Department.
	For earlier years the source is Table A of the Civil Service Statistics publication, available at:
	 2006 (30 September)
	www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=2899&Pos=&ColRank=l&Rank=422
	 2005 (1 April)
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/reports/2005/tables_and_charts/index.asp
	 2004 (1 April)
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/reports/2004/tables_and_charts/index.asp
	 2003 (1 April)
	www.civilservice.gov.uk/management/statistics/reports/2003/tables_and_charts/index.asp
	For 2005 and 2006 the Civil Service Statistics were not published with the permanent and temporary/casual breakdown—this additional information is set out in the following tables:
	
		
			  Civil service employment at 1 April 2005 
			   Headcount permanent  Headcount temporary/  casual  Headcount total  Full-time equivalent (FTE) permanent  FTE temporary/  casual  FTE total 
			 Department of Health (excluding agencies) 2,390 80 2,470 2,300 80 2,380 
			 Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency 780 40 810 750 40 780 
			 Purchasing and Supplies Agency 300 10 320 290 10 310 
		
	
	
		
			  Civil service employment at 30 September 2006 
			   Headcount permanent  Headcount temporary/ casual  Headcount total  FTE permanent  FTE temporary/ casual  FTE total 
			 Department of Health (excluding agencies) 2,290 40 2,330 2,250 30 2,280 
			 Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency 800 30 830 780 30 810 
			 Purchasing and Supplies Agency 340 10 340 330 10 330 
			  Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 
		
	
	Statistics on the number of contractors employed by Departments are not published. The civil service statistics represent those employees paid directly from the Department's payroll. Any contractors employed via agencies and so not paid directly by the Department are not included.

Departments: Manpower

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of employees in  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) executive agency and (ii) non-departmental public body funded by his Department are above state retirement age.

Dawn Primarolo: The available information is shown in the following table.
	The information requested is not available for non-departmental public bodies.
	
		
			   Number of staff over state retirement age( 2)  (where age is known( 1) )  Total number of staff (age known( 1) )  Percentage over retirement age 
			 Department of Health (excluding agencies) 10 2,330 0.43 
			 Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency n/a n/a n/a 
			 Purchasing and Supplies Agency n/a n/a n/a 
			 n/a = not available (1) Analysis has been carried out where age known (2 )State retirement age is 65 for men and 60 for women  Note: Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  Mandate 30 September 2006

Departments: Official Hospitality

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by his Department on official hospitality in the last 12 months.

Dawn Primarolo: For the period October 2006 to September 2007 the Department spent £1,198,911 on working lunches and hospitality.

Departments: Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions he has visited each region in an official capacity in the last 12 months.

Dawn Primarolo: The Secretary of State and other departmental Ministers all make regular visits to national health service and social care facilities, including hospitals, general practitioner practices and primary and community services.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and the former Secretary of State my right hon. Friend the member for Leicester, West (Ms Hewitt) visited the following regions in an official capacity in the last 12 months:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 3 
			 London 18 
			 North West 2 
			 South West 5 
			 North East 1 
			 East of England 2 
			 South Central 2 
			 South East Coast 1 
			 East Midlands 0 
			 West Midlands 3

Departments: Policy

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what policy changes his Department has implemented since 27 June 2007.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department has implemented a number of new and changed policies since 27 June 2007. We have kept Parliament fully informed of these changes. For example on:
	The Government's response to the inquiry into Modernising Medical Careers, 8 October 2007,  Official Report, column 16WS
	The Government's response to the Joint Committee's report on the Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill (Cm 7209) 8 October 2007,  Official Report, column 15WS
	Lord Darzi's interim report Our NHS; Our Future; NHS Next Stage Review, 10 October 2007,  Official Report, column 297.
	The Government's response to the Healthcare Commission's report on the outbreaks of clostridium difficile at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, 15 October 2007,  Official Report, column 557.
	The Government's response to the Chief Scientific Adviser's review of obesity Tackling Obesities: Future Choices, 17 October 2007,  Official Report, column 825.

Dietary Supplements: EU Law

David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the outcome was of  (a) the meeting between the Food Standards Agency and the European Commission on 12 September 2007 to discuss the interpretation and implementation of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive and  (b) the Working Group of the Council and Commission held on 24 September;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on his planned future actions in relation to the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements;
	(3)  if he will make a statement on progress in achieving his objectives for the setting of maximum permitted levels for nutrients in food supplements;
	(4)  when he next plans to visit a specialist health food retailer to discuss the possible impact of the setting of maximum permitted levels for nutrients in food supplements;
	(5)  whether officials of  (a) his Department and  (b) the Food Standards Agency plan to liaise with their counterparts in (i) the Republic of Ireland and (ii) each other EU member state to discuss their position on the setting of maximum permitted levels of nutrients in food supplements;
	(6)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the letters recently sent to the governments of  (a) Guernsey and  (b) Jersey by (i) the Food Standards Agency and (ii) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in relation to the trade in food supplements and herbal remedies;
	(7)  when he expects the European Commission and Working Groups of the Council to bring forward figures for the permitted levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements; who is participating in those working group discussions to represent the United Kingdom; what steps he is taking to influence other member state governments outside the working group meetings; when last he met the European Commissioner to discuss these matters; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  what the conclusions were of the Food Standards Agency and Better Regulation Executive assessment of the regulatory impact on  (a) specialist manufacturers,  (b) specialist retailers and  (c) other businesses of the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive; and if he will offer compensation to small and medium sized enterprises which suffer adversely as a result of the implementation of this legislation;
	(9)  what steps  (a) the Food Standards Agency and  (b) the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency plan to take in relation to the trade in food supplements and herbal remedies from the Channel Islands.

Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for food supplements issues and for negotiations relating to the European Commission (EC) Food Supplements Directive. No recent meetings have been held between Health Ministers and the European Commissioner concerning setting maximum permitted levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements under this directive. Meetings will be held with stakeholders in early 2008 to discuss this issue.
	The bilateral meeting between the FSA and the EC on 12 September was held principally to gain insight into the Commission's intentions as regards the process by which maximum and minimum levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements would be set. The Commission indicated that an orientation paper on setting maximum and minimum levels which it had issued in late July would be the starting point for discussions at working group level, which began on 24 September.
	The aim of the first working group meeting of 24 September was for the Commission to obtain member states' initial views on the orientation paper. We have been advised by the FSA that general discussions on the orientation paper in the working group revealed that many member states are yet to establish views on many issues. The Commission has asked member states to consider some of the issues presented in the orientation paper in preparation for more detailed discussions at the next working group meeting which has provisionally been scheduled for November and will be attended by FSA officials. We have been informed by the FSA that the Commission intends to produce draft amending legislation with respect to permitted levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements by January 2009.
	We have been advised by the FSA that their officials met with their counterparts from the Republic of Ireland and other member states during, and in the margins of, the working group meeting on 24 September. The next working group meeting will provide further opportunity for bilateral discussions. The FSA currently has no additional meetings arranged to meet their counterparts in other member states outside working group meetings.
	The Government consider that the approach to regulation of food supplements should be safety-based and that consumers should have the right to make an informed choice unless their safety is compromised. Good progress has been made in promoting work carried out in the United Kingdom in establishing upper levels for vitamins and minerals and reference has been made to this in the Commission's orientation paper.
	We have been advised that the FSA is continuing its work on determining the potential economic impact of setting maximum levels to support future negotiations. In the absence of proposals from the Commission, a range of possible options is being considered. Until proposals are received and this work completed, the impact on small and medium sized enterprises of setting levels is unknown. We cannot, therefore, comment on the matter of compensation.
	There are no plans for Health Ministers to visit a specialist health food retailer to discuss the possible impact of setting of maximum levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements.
	The FSA wrote to the Governments of Jersey and Guernsey on 10 September concerning the trade in food supplements between these respective Crown Dependencies and the UK and suggested a collective meeting with representatives of these governments. Copies of the letter sent by the FSA to the Bailiwick of Jersey have been placed in the Library. The release of the letter sent by the FSA to the Bailiwick of Guernsey is currently under consideration by the FSA under Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which precludes copies being placed in the Library at this time.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) believes that herbal remedies from the Channel Islands are subject to the Traditional Herbal Medicines Directive 2004/24/EC. The MHRA has already begun discussions about this with the Government of Guernsey and wrote to the Government of Jersey to open discussions on 28 June 2007. Copies of the MHRA's recent letters to the Bailiwick of Guernsey and letter to the Bailiwick of Jersey have been placed in the Library.

Drugs: Leeds

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many registered drug addicts there were in the  (a) Leeds West constituency and  (b) the City of Leeds in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: No register of drug addicts is maintained. However, statistics for the number of people in Leeds receiving treatment for drug addiction are available from 2003-04 onwards and are set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Number 
			 2003-04 2,453 
			 2004-05 3,627 
			 2005-06 4,005 
			 2006-07 3,879

Family Practitioner Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the basis was for the statement in his Department's White Paper Our Health, Our Care, Our Say, Cm 6737, published on 30 January 2006, that dual registration at GP surgeries was  (a) costly and  (b) difficult to introduce.

Ben Bradshaw: Funding of most primary medical care practices is largely dependent on the number and characteristics of the patients registered with that provider. In addition, quality and enhanced service payments are also usually based on delivery of care to the patients registered with that practice. Therefore, any system of dual or multiple registrations would fund more than one provider to deliver care and services to the same patient—doubling the costs, while at the same time complicating the care management and co-ordination of care to such patients. This would have consequences for the continuity of patient care and ensuring a single comprehensive and up to date patient record. There would also be complicating factors in determining allocation of resources for the provision of hospital and community health services to primary care trusts should patients be registered with different practices in different primary care trusts.
	Following the publication of Lord Darzi's "Our NHS our future" interim report for the NHS next stage review, the Department is currently considering what other new models might enable patients to switch GPs more easily and register with GPs outside where they live.

General Practitioners

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts form the 25 per cent. of trusts with the poorest GP provision; and what measures are used to calculate such provision.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department is currently working with the national health service to confirm the appropriate indicators under each of the measures set out in "our NHS our future". Next Stage Review interim report—(primary care clinicians, patient satisfaction and health outcomes). A list of primary care trusts which form the 25 per cent. of trusts with poorest provision will be published shortly.

Health Professions: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the 72 doctors, nurses and health professionals are who have agreed to become clinical champions in strategic health authorities as part of the NHS Next Stage Review, as stated in issue three of the month, published on his Department's website on 4 October.

Ann Keen: Each strategic health authority (SHA) is responsible for establishing eight local clinical pathway groups. Lists of members should be sought directly from the SHAs themselves.

Health Services: Luton

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what impact the conclusions of the recent review by Lord Darzi are expected to have on health inequalities in Luton South.

Ann Keen: Lord Darzi published his interim findings on 4 October. His final report will be published in June 2008.
	Lord Darzi's interim report set out a vision for a fairer national health service ensuring equal access to NHS services for everyone.

Health Services: Pharmacy

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration was given to the merits of appointing a pharmacist to Lord Darzi's advisory board on future strategy on primary and community care.

Ben Bradshaw: Lord Darzi has appointed Andy Murdock, Pharmacy Director for Lloyds pharmacy, to the advisory board. The interim report of the NHS Next Stage Review published on 4 October included the names of the initial appointments to the advisory board, but it was not possible at this stage to include details of all the proposed appointments.

Health Services: Pilot Projects

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department expects completion of the long term condition whole system demonstrator project action plans for  (a) Newham,  (b) Kent and  (c) Cornwall; what the estimated cost to the public purse of each project is; and what steps he is taking to engage with stakeholders to inform the development of the implementation plans.

Ann Keen: The three Long Term Condition Whole System Demonstrator sites are currently in a detailed planning phase. We anticipate that the plans will be substantially complete by the end of November.
	Funding of £12 million has been made available in 2007-08 to support these demonstrator pilots. Funding for future years is being agreed following the recent announcement of the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement for health.
	Stakeholder engagement is key to the development and design of the implementation plans for each of the Whole System Demonstrator sites. Each of the sites have implemented robust governance arrangements which include representatives from the respective local authorities and primary care trust's and other key stakeholder groups. The sites have been proactive in identifying opportunities to engage locally in a wide variety of forums both directly and indirectly related to the programme.

Healthcare: Acquired Infections

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 May 2007,  Official Report, column 1843W, on healthcare: acquired infections, when his Department expects the project to evaluate environmental cleaning for MRSA using Steris vaporised hydrogen peroxide equipment along with wet disinfection to be completed.

Ann Keen: The Department's project on the importance of environmental contamination, including on assessment of gaseous fumigation products such as Steris, is due to be complete by the end of May 2008.

Hospitals: Cleaning Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what central monitoring process will be used by his Department to monitor the deep cleaning of all hospitals over the next year;
	(2)  what monitoring documents officials in his Department plan to compile to assess the effectiveness of deep cleaning programmes for hospitals in tackling superbugs.

Ann Keen: There are no plans to monitor centrally the deep cleaning of hospitals. Arrangements for the programme are entirely a matter for local determination in discussions between trusts and their strategic health authority which will be allocating funding. There are also no plans to assess the effectiveness of deep-cleaning. Undertaking deep-clean is just one of a number of approaches trusts may take in tackling healthcare associated infections, and isolating the contribution of any one approach to assess its effectiveness would require activity in all others to cease.

Hospitals: Cleaning Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the first programme of hospital deep cleaning will commence; when he expects it to be completed; when the programme will be evaluated in order for the commencement of a second programme; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The deep-cleaning programme announced by the Prime Minister in September 2007 will take place between now and the end of the financial year.
	There are many potential benefits to deep cleaning, and these are dependent on the particular needs of each hospital. Details of the programme, including evaluation, will be decided locally and monitored by strategic health authorities.

Hospitals: Disease Control

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the level at which fines for poor control of hospital infection, as announced in his Department's NHS Next Stage Review: Interim Report, published 4 October 2007, need to be set to establish appropriate incentives to improve hospital cleanliness; to whom the fines will be paid; what assessment he has made of the likely effect of fining hospitals on the level of resources available for other elements of patient care; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Care Quality Commission's primary role will be to ensure patient care is safe. It will have a wide range of powers including issuing warning notices, closing wards and de-registering providers. Administrative fines are just one part of the picture. The level of administrative fine will be based on the Ministry of Justice's standard scales, and any income will go to the Consolidated Fund. But, we do not intend to take large sums of money away from front-line health services. Rather, the ability of patients to choose where they are treated means that hospitals that cannot assure the public that they are free from serious infection will not be chosen.

Human Tissue and Embryos Bill (Draft)

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the draft Human Tissue and Embryos Bill.

Dawn Primarolo: Since the publication of the Human Tissue and Embryos (Draft) Bill on 17 May 2007, the Department has received over 5,800 representations.
	These included 5,616 postcards which were a result of a campaign run by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. The campaign covered the following stated position:
	The principle that human embryos should be afforded the respect due to human beings;
	to oppose the creation of inter-species (human-animal) embryos;
	to introduce a complete ban on human cloning; and
	to oppose amendments that will lead (even inadvertently) to more abortions.
	The Department has also received 241 other representations on the draft Bill, which have included such issues as:
	Alternatives to embryonic stem cell research;
	the issue of inter-species embryos;
	the possibility of changes to current abortion laws;
	that the Bill has a lack of an ethical framework; and
	the removal of the reference to the 'need for a father' as part of the requirement to take account of the welfare of the child before providing licensed assisted conception treatments.

Infant Foods: EU Action

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what process the Government followed in deciding its policy and interpretation of Commission Directive 2006/14/EC on Infant Formula and Follow-on-Formula; and when it expects to announce related decisions.

Dawn Primarolo: The Food Standards Agency has consulted stakeholders on new draft regulations, which will implement EU directive 2006/141/EC on infant and follow-on formula, and will lay down rules about the composition, labelling and advertising of formulae. Comments received from the stakeholders are now being collated and evaluated by the agency. These will then be published together with the agency responses. The agency also intends to consult in the near future on the accompanying draft guidance notes. The directive requires that regulations come into force on 1 January 2008.

Influenza: Vaccination

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many and what percentage of  (a) registered carers and  (b) people with diabetes in the Stockport Primary Care Trust area received an influenza vaccination in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many pensioners received a free influenza vaccine in  (a) Cheadle constituency and  (b) Stockport Primary Care Trust area in each year since 1997; and what percentage each figure represents of those eligible in each year;
	(3)  how many free influenza vaccines  (a) are available for use,  (b) will be available for use by November 2007 and  (c) will be available for use by December 2007 in (i) Cheadle constituency and (ii) Stockport Primary Care Trust area.

Dawn Primarolo: Flu vaccine uptake data was collected for the first time in those aged 65 and over from 2000-01. Uptake data for those aged under 65 in an at risk group started in 2005-06 and for carers in 2006-07.
	Information is collected by primary care trust (PCT) and strategic health authority. Information is not collected by constituency.
	The number and percentage of those aged 65 and over, those aged under 65 with diabetes and carers who received a flu vaccine in Stockport PCT for which data were collected are shown as follows:
	
		
			   65 and over  Under 65 with diabetes  Carers 
			   Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			 2000-01 29,885 64 — — — — 
			 2001-02 32,782 69 — — — — 
			 2002-03 34,225 72 — — — — 
			 2003-04 34,769 73 — — — — 
			 2004-05 33,475 75 — — — — 
			 2005-06 38,469 79 2,974 76 — — 
			 2006-07 34,953 77 2,698 71 490 54 
		
	
	The Department does not purchase flu vaccine on behalf of general practitioner (GPs). GPs place orders for vaccine direct from the supplier of their choice. There are six suppliers of flu vaccine to the United Kingdom.

Influenza: Vaccination

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2007,  Official Report, columns 1171-2W, on influenza: vaccinations, when he expects all 15 million doses of the seasonal influenza vaccination to be delivered; what targets the UK Vaccine Industry Group has been given for  (a) producing and  (b) delivering the 15 million doses of seasonal influenza vaccine; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Department requested 15.75 million doses from manufacturers for this winter's flu programme. Latest estimates from suppliers show that over 16 million doses of flu vaccine are available for distribution. We do not set the UK Vaccine Industry group targets for the delivery of flu vaccine however, by week ending 12 October, 13.2 million doses had been distributed in the United Kingdom.

Junior Doctors: Working Hours

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of junior doctors worked a maximum of 48-hours a week in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The new deal contract monitoring returns give an indication of national health service readiness for fully implementing the working time directive (WTD) 48-hour week for doctors in training. Monitoring information for 2006 is published on the NHS employers website at:
	www.Nhsemployers.org/pay-conditions/pay-conditions-467.cfm
	and showed that approximately 40 per cent. of doctors in training worked a 48-hour week. The 2007 new deal information will be collected on 31 October 2007 by local NHS employers, then collated and published in early 2008.
	It is the responsibility of local employers to implement WTD as part of their health and safety obligations.

Junior Doctors: Working Hours

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether time spent asleep by a junior doctor on call counts against the 48 hour working time directive; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The European Working Time Directive defines working time is as follows:
	"Working time shall mean any period during which the worker is working, at the employer's disposal and carrying out his or her activity or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or practice".
	The European Court of Justice ruled in the SiMAP and Jaeger cases that time spent on call by doctors must be regarded in its entirety as working time, even if they are asleep, if they are required to be present at the health centre.

Life Expectancy

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the life expectancy at  (a) birth,  (b) 18,  (c) 40 and  (d) 60 years is for (i) men and (ii) women in each local authority area.

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the life expectancy at (a) birth, (b) 18, (c) 40 and (d) over 60 years is for (i) men and (ii) women in each local authority area. (160491)
	Life expectancies at 18, 40 and 60 years at local authority level are not available. Life expectancies at birth for males and females at local authority level are published annually by ONS, based on three-year rolling averages. Figures for the periods 1991-93 to 2003-05 are available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk:=8841
	Figures on life expectancy at birth and at 65 years at local authority level for 2004-06 will be published on the National Statistics website in late November 2007.

Macular Degeneration: Rheopheresis

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of rheopheresis in treating dry age-related macular degeneration.

Ann Keen: The Department is aware of rheopheresis but has not itself made an assessment of the therapy.

Mesothelioma: Merseyside

Peter Kilfoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in Merseyside have been diagnosed with mesothelioma in each of the last five years, broken down by hospital trust.

Ann Keen: The information requested has been set out in the following table.
	
		
			  National health service hospitals in England, 2001-02 to 2005-06 
			   Wirral Hospital (RBL)  St. Helens and Knowsley Hospitals (RBN)  Cardiothoracic Centre—Liverpool (RBQ)  Aintree Hospitals (REM)  Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology (REN)  Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals (RQ6) 
			 2001-02 28 37 31 26 *** * 
			 2002-03 11 22 26 26 *** 7 
			 2003-04 10 14 50 20 *** * 
			 2004-05 33 24 46 17 136 * 
			 2005-06 22 10 62 27 100 * 
			  Notes: 1. Diagnosis (primary diagnosis) The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital. 2. Count of finished consultant episodes (FCEs) where the primary diagnosis was Mesothelioma** for selected Acute Trusts in Merseyside. ** The ICD-10 codes used in this analysis were as follows: C45 Mesothelioma D19 Benign neoplasm of mesothelial tissue 3. Data on FCEs are currently not available from 2001-02 to 2003-04 for Clatterbridge Centre of Oncology. 4. An FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year. 5. Low numbers Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been suppressed and replaced with * (an asterisk). 6. Assessing growth through time HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected within the NHS there have been ongoing improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. 7. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example a number of procedures may now be undertaken in out-patient settings and may no longer be accounted in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time. 8. Ungrossed data Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).  Source: HES, The Information Centre for health and social care

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus: Eastern Region

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of MRSA were reported in each hospital in the Eastern Region in each of the last five years.

Ann Keen: Data are not available for individual hospitals therefore we have provided data for acute national health service trusts in the Eastern Region. The following table provides data from the mandatory surveillance scheme of methicillin-resistant  Staphylococcus aureus, bloodstream infections in acute NHS Trusts in England.
	
		
			   April to March each year 
			  NHS Trusts  2002 - 03  2003 - 04  2004 - 05  2005 - 06  2006 - 07 
			 Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals 38 30 42 36 24 
			 Bedford Hospital 19 26 9 32 27 
			 Cambridge University Hospitals 127 126 123 112 81 
			 East and North Hertfordshire 86 56 50 58 53 
			 Essex Rivers Healthcare 18 16 37 19 24 
			 Hinchingbrooke Healthcare 25 26 12 32 15 
			 Ipswich Hospital 52 52 51 43 51 
			 James Paget University Hospitals 36 30 50 41 27 
			 Luton and Dunstable Hospital 28 21 19 32 21 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services 33 43 41 38 12 
			 Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital 57 64 58 58 48 
			 Papworth Hospital 24 13 7 14 7 
			 Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals 10 10 16 9 11 
			 Southend University Hospital 23 27 19 29 21 
			 The Princess Alexandra Hospital 37 32 44 20 25 
			 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital .King's Lynn 36 30 51 25 13 
			 West Hertfordshire Hospitals 40 45 53 51 42 
			 West Suffolk Hospitals 24 37 43 29 27 
			  Source: Health Protection Agency—provisional data

Neurology: Out of Area Treatment

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons resident in Wales were treated as  (a) in-patients and  (b) out-patients at the Walton Centre, Fazakerley, Liverpool in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The information requested has been set out in the following tables.
	
		
			  Count of finished consultant episodes (FCE) at the Walton Centre for neurology and neurosurgery NHS trust where the patient was resident in Wales 
			   FCE 
			 2005-06 1,025 
			 2004-05 870 
			 2003-04 875 
			  Notes: A FCE is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have one episode of care within the year. In-patients are defined as patients who are admitted to hospital and occupy a bed, including both admissions where an overnight stay is planned and day cases. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data—i.e. the data are ungrossed.  Source: Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care. 
		
	
	
		
			  2005-06 Count of out-patient appointments at the Walton Centre for neurology and neurosurgery NHS Trust where the patient was resident in Wales 
			  Attendance type  Appointment count 
			 Attendances 3,985 
			 Did not attend 328 
			  Notes: Out-patient data for 2003-04 and 2004-05 are not available as they were classed as provisional/experimental. The information above provides a count of the number of planned/booked appointments for out-patients. Attendance type identifies if the attendance occurred and if it was a first, subsequent, cancelled or did not attend. 99.9 per cent. of this field is complete. The figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls—i.e. the data are ungrossed.  Source: HES; Out-patients, The Information Centre for health and social care.

NHS Direct

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  on what issue the most complaints were received by NHS Direct in each of the last 12 months;
	(2)  how many complaints were received by NHS Direct in each financial year since it was established.

Ben Bradshaw: Information on the type of complaints is not held centrally but may be available from the Chairman of NHS Direct NHS Trust.
	The information on numbers of complaints received by NHS Direct is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of contacts( 1)  Number of complaints 
			 2004-05 15,900,996 341 
			 2005-06 20,419,837 898 
			 2006-07 (2)27,942,595 980 
			 (1) Number of contacts includes all calls NHS Direct have dealt with and the number of visits to their website. (2) Figures for 2006-07 do not include call volumes for new services brought in that year (long-term conditions calls, National Care Records calls and Category C ambulance calls) as the figures available are estimated (20,600 in total) rather than actual call volumes

NHS Drugs

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of individuals who were in receipt of controlled drugs through prescription in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: It is not possible to say how many people were prescribed controlled drugs, as the data are not collected by individual. The number of national health service prescription items for controlled drugs dispensed in the community in England is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of prescription items for controlled drugs (000) 
			 2002 44,811 
			 2003 44,993 
			 2004 44,982 
			 2005 43,178 
			 2006 42,867 
			  Source: Prescription cost analysis system

NHS Trusts: Ministerial Powers

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made  (a) an intervention order under section 66 of the NHS Act 2006 and  (b) an order declaring an NHS body to be in default under section 68 of the NHS Act 2006 since 1 April.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 24 October 2007
	No.

NHS: Finance

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the presentation entitled Financial Regime, given at the Financial Management and Reporting Steering Group meeting on 23 March 2007, which trusts were issued loans on 22 March 2007; and what the value was of each loan.

Ben Bradshaw: The national health service trusts issued loans on 22 March, and the value of these loans are provided in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS trust name  Loan value (£000) 
			 Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust 14,700 
			 Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 5,000 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 17,500 
			 Bolton Hospitals NHS Trust 4,500 
			 Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust 29,322 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6,250 
			 East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 7,800 
			 East Cheshire NHS Trust 7,000 
			 East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust 4,000 
			 Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 14,000 
			 George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust 6,800 
			 Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust 3,000 
			 Hereford Hospitals NHS Trust 3,279 
			 Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 10,896 
			 Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust 1,500 
			 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust 23,400 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 6,604 
			 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust 11,000 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust 23,400 
			 North Bristol NHS Trust 52,000 
			 North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust 8,800 
			 North Cumbria Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 12,000 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 15,000 
			 North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust 10,000 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 23,830 
			 Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust 5,600 
			 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 9,600 
			 Nuffield Orthopaedic NHS Trust 1,000 
			 Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust 19,986 
			 Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 2,500 
			 Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust 8,415 
			 Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 13,650 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust 6,300 
			 Rob Jones and A Hunt Orthopaedic NHS Trust 3,400 
			 Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust 38,000 
			 Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 9,000 
			 Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust 7,646 
			 Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 12,299 
			 South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust 1,115 
			 South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust 28,000 
			 South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust 18,500 
			 Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust 25,000 
			 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust 34,000 
			 Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 56,000 
			 The Royal West Sussex NHS Trust 23,000 
			 Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust 1,700 
			 United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust 20,300 
			 University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust 6,500 
			 West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust 11,200 
			 West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust 1,950 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust 36,094 
			 Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust 5,000 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 25,000 
			 Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust 5,632 
			 Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust 17,005 
			 Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust 2,908 
			 Total 777,881

NHS: Finance

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the presentation entitled Financial Regime given at the Financial Management and Reporting Steering Group meeting on 23 March, whether the loans issued on 22 March affected the financial position in 2006-07 of the trusts to which they were issued.

Ben Bradshaw: The interest accruing in 2006-07 on the loans let to National Health Service trusts on 22 March 2007 totalled £l million.
	The assurance and authorisation process in respect of working capital loans ensured that the repayment of the loans was linked to improved financial performance by the NHS trusts. Interest costs and principal repayments in future years should therefore be financed through this improvement in the retained surpluses of the NHS trusts.

NHS: Higher Education

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what means he monitors NHS contracts with higher education institutions for initial training and professional development services for NHS personnel with reference to the  (a) quality of delivery and  (b) appropriateness of funding in relation to the costs of these services.

Ann Keen: Monitoring of national health service contracts with higher education institutions for initial training and professional development services for NHS personnel with reference to the quality of delivery and appropriateness of funding in relation to the costs of these services are the responsibility of the strategic health authorities (SHAs). Contracts include a quality framework setting out requirements on higher education institutions to ensure training and professional development are of high quality. SHAs are in the process of applying standard benchmark prices to their pre-registration contracts where these have been agreed nationally.

NHS: Higher Education

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has held with representatives of higher education institutions on workforce planning involving initial professional qualification and continuing professional development for NHS staff; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The commissioning of training of doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals is carried out as a partnership between the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), higher education institutions and the Department. Training for nursing, midwifery and allied health professions is funded on a contract basis by strategic health authorities and is delivered by a range of universities and colleges.
	The required numbers of doctors and dentists entering training are set having considered for the future workforce requirements of the national health service.
	For dentists, this has resulted in an expansion of dental school places from 670 to 840, and the opening of two new medical schools in Plymouth and Preston from this autumn.
	For doctors, following a rapid expansion in medical student intake from 3,749 in 1997-98 to 6,194 in 2006-07, a decision was taken in July 2006 that no further expansion of medical school places was required. Medical student numbers will be kept under review taking account of the changing demographics of the workforce and the workforce requirements of the NHS.
	It is the responsibility of employing NHS trusts to ensure that their staff are up to date and fit to practise. They should ensure that continuing professional development needs identified through regular appraisal are supported.

NHS: Information Services

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what checks his Department and NHS trusts carry out on literature displayed in general practice waiting rooms and hospital out-patient departments to make sure that such literature contains only sound, evidence based information.

Ann Keen: Assuring the quality of information on display is the responsibility of local national health service organisations.
	For information on the internet, the Department has developed NHS Choices as the primary health and social care information portal for the NHS. This information service contains evidence-based information on clinical conditions and treatments, drawn from sources such as NHS Direct and the National Electronic Library for Health.
	Departmental officials have been working with patient groups to consider options for an Information Accreditation Scheme which would 'kitemark' organisations that produce health and social care information, in order to reassure people that the information they use comes from a reliable source.

NHS: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what spare capacity, expressed in patient numbers, is available for  (a) under 18,  (b) over 18 fee-paying and  (c) over 18 charge-exempt people to register with each NHS practice in Milton Keynes.

Ann Keen: The information requested is not held centrally.

NHS: Reorganisation

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the consultees to the interim report from the Our NHS Our Future exercise.

Ann Keen: Lord Darzi has:
	visited and spoken to 1,500 national health service staff in 17 NHS organisations across the country;
	taken part in a nationwide day of detailed discussions on the priorities for the NHS with 1,000 patients, public and health and social care staff in nine different towns and cities;
	met with representatives of 250 stakeholder groups representing the full diversity of our population and staff;
	read more than 1,400 letters and emails from people up and down the country; and
	in preparation for the second stage of the review, brought together over 1,000 clinicians in groups in every part of the country to focus on discussing how best to plan and provide care for patients.
	The interim report is based on these views, visits and discussions.

NHS: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to reassign points in the clinical domain of the quality and outcomes framework to the access domain.

Ben Bradshaw: NHS employers are responsible for negotiating changes to the General Medical Services contract with the British Medical Association's General Practitioners Committee, and they will be considering potential changes to the contract for 2008-09.

Ophthalmic Services: Expenditure

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost of ophthalmic services in each of the regions was in each of the last three years.

Ann Keen: As part of the annual accounts process, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities (SHA) now show total resource expenditure on both primary and secondary care services in each of 23 clinical areas. The following table shows the programme budget data on one of those categories, eye/vision problems. This should include expenditure on primary care services provided through the general ophthalmic services, which provide sight tests and optical vouchers to those patient groups entitled to these national health service services, as well as the cost of secondary and additional primary care services directly attributable to problems relating to the eye and vision. The cost of any general practitioners consultations involving eye or vision problems is not separately quantified and is therefore not included in this data.
	
		
			  Programme budget data on expenditure on eye/vision problems in England, 2004-05 to 2006-07 
			  £000 
			  SHA code  SHA  2004-05( 1)  2005-06( 1)  2006-07 
			 Q30 North East Health Authority (HA) 73,558 69,074 76,377 
			 Q31 North West HA 220,567 210,838 209,352 
			 Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber HA 155,479 166,860 167,417 
			 Q33 East Midlands HA 100,705 110,896 104,695 
			 Q34 West Midlands HA 151,801 154,088 164,896 
			 Q35 East of England HA 145,270 151,673 146,988 
			 Q36 London HA 192,151 189,848 172,871 
			 Q37 South East Coast HA 103,140 108,149 107,019 
			 Q38 South Central HA 90,739 94,953 89,726 
			 Q39 South West HA 126,114 132,268 122,223 
			  England 1,359,524 1,388,646 1,361,565 
			 (1 )Data are configured to the 10 new strategic health authority areas; figures for 2004-05 and 2005-06 are obtained by grossing the figures from the former SHA configuration and may include some pro rata estimation.

Patient Safety Direct

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to establish Patient Safety Direct, as announced in his Department's publication, Our NHS, Our Future, NHS Next Stage Review: Interim Report, gateway reference 8857, published 4 October.

Ann Keen: Patient Safety Direct is an opportunity to make it easier for front-line staff to report patient safety incidents. Currently the main line of reporting incidents is though the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) reporting and learning system. Patient Safety Direct will strengthen this reporting line by adding a new and more accessible portal for national health service staff and ultimately patients to use. The NPSA is scoping the work with all the various organisations which need to be involved. Plans will be developed in phase two of Lord Darzi's NHS Next Stage Review and, following piloting, we expect to move to implementation by the end of 2008.

Patients: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the evidential basis is for the statement on page 15 of his Department's NHS Next Stage Review: Interim Report, published on 4 October 2007, that 56 per cent. of hospital inpatients did not have the opportunity to speak to a doctor.

Ann Keen: The figure of 56 per cent. was derived from the Healthcare Commission's 2006-07 National Patient Survey of Adult Inpatients. It refers to the proportion of patients who said that their family, or someone who cared for them, did not always have enough opportunity to talk to a doctor.

Research for Innovation, Speculation and Creativity Funding Committee: Public Appointments

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who the members were of the Research for Innovation, Speculation and Creativity Funding Committee on 13 September.

Dawn Primarolo: The members of the National Institute for Health Research's Research for Innovation, Speculation and Creativity awards panel are:
	Mr. Malcolm Lowe-Lauri (Chair)
	Dr. Kofi Anie
	Professor David Armstrong
	Ms Janette Benaddi
	Professor Bipin Bhakta
	Professor Matthew Cooke
	Professor Huw Davies
	Dr. Alan Driver
	Professor Ewan Ferlie
	Dr. Ian Greener
	Mr. George Hanna
	Professor Mark Hawley
	Professor Chris Lowe
	Professor Lorna McKee
	Mr. Robert Morgan
	Dr. Stephen Peckham
	Dr. Shum Prakash
	Professor Martin Rossor
	Professor Jenny Simpson
	Dr. Andrew Valance-Owen

Resteosis

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of resteosis there were between  (a) 1990 and 2000 and  (b) 2000 and 2006.

Ann Keen: The Department does not collect this data centrally.

Strategic Health Authorities: Reorganisation

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to restructure the regional boundaries of the strategic health authorities.

Ann Keen: As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 4 July 2007,  Official Report, column 962
	"there will be no further centrally dictated, top-down restructuring to primary care trusts and strategic health authorities for the foreseeable future."

Streptococcus: Pregnant Women

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 October 2007,  Official Report, column 1400W, on Streptococcus: pregnant women, if he will take steps to bring the assessment of the most recent evidence on testing pregnant women for group B streptococcus forward in the ongoing programme of work of the UK National Screening Committee; and what method the Committee uses to disseminate the results of its work.

Ann Keen: The UK National Screening Committee is planning to hold a stakeholder workshop in the spring of 2008 to consider the most recent evidence on screening pregnant women for carriage of group B Streptococcus. The outcome of the workshop will be made available through the national health service specialist screening library at www.library.nhs.uk/screening

Suffolk Primary Care Trust: Pay

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by Suffolk Primary Care Trust on salaries and wages for  (a) general and senior managers,  (b) nurses and midwives and  (c) administrative and clerical staff in each year since its creation.

Ann Keen: Suffolk Primary Care Trust was established on 1 October 2006, therefore data are not available before then. Staff cost figures have been collected in the financial returns for 2006-07 but are still subject to validation. Figures should be available by the end of November 2007.

Varicose Veins: Medical Treatments

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts fund endovenous laser treatment.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested is not collected centrally. Decisions to fund treatments are made by primary care trusts in consultation with healthcare professionals who are best placed to decide on the most appropriate treatments for their patients.

West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust: Pay

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by  (a) West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust and  (b) Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust on salaries and wages for (i) general and senior managers, (ii) nurses and midwives and (iii) administrative and clerical staff in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: The expenditure on staff costs for managers and senior managers, nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, and administrative and clerical staff for West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust and Ipswich hospital are shown in the following table. These are the only years that data are currently available by individual organisation.
	
		
			  £000 
			   1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust
			 Managers and senior managers 1,322 1,514 2,001 2,415 2,839 3,730 3,758 
			 Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 16,601 18,076 21,390 22,735 25,783 29,346 28,731 
			 Administrative and clerical staff 3,793 4,227 4,876 5,329 6,077 6,884 6,916 
			 Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust
			 Managers and senior managers 2,127 2,522 3,142 3,758 4,462 4,750 5,786 
			 Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 20,050 21,858 24,538 26,843 29,826 34,506 34,980 
			 Administrative and clerical staff 5,078 5,990 7,060 8,002 9,031 10,568 11,431 
			  Source:  Financial Monitoring and Analysis NHS Accounting

TREASURY

Cannabis: South West Region

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) yachts and  (b) other boats containing cannabis were seized in the South West in each year since 2001.

Angela Eagle: National information on seizures made by HM Revenue and Customs since 2001 is contained in the annual reports for HM Customs and Excise and HM Revenue and Customs, available at www.hmrc.gov.uk
	Information of seizures at a local level cannot be disclosed as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs' controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.

Children

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the gender ratio was for children born in England and Wales in each income decile in the last year for which data are available.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question on the gender ratio for children born in England and Wales in each income decile in the last year for which data is available. I am replying in her absence. (160492)
	In England and Wales parental income is not collected at birth registration. I am, therefore, unable to provide you with the statistics you have requested.

Clostridium: Death

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) people and  (b) people under the age of (i) one and (ii) five died from (A) clostridium difficile and (B) MRSA infection in each year from 1997 to 2006.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) people and (b) people under the age of (i) one and (ii) five died from (A) clostridium difficile and (B) MRS A infection in each year since 1997 to 2006. I am replying in her absence. (160268)
	Special analyses of deaths in England and Wales involving Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and MRSA are undertaken annually by ONS and results are published in Health Statistics Quarterly. The latest year for which figures are available is 2005.
	The tables below present the numbers of deaths where C. difficile and MRSA were mentioned on death certificates and where they were the underlying cause of death. Data for 1997, 1998, and 2000 are not available for C. difficile (see background note 1).
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of death certificates with clostridium. difficile( 1)  mentioned and as the underlying cause of death, England and Wales, 1999 and 2001-05( 2) 
			   Mentions  Underlying cause( 3) 
			   All ages  Age under one year  Age under five years( 4)  All ages  Age under one year  Age under five years( 4) 
			 1999 975 0 0 531 0 0 
			 2000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001 1,214 0 0 691 0 0 
			 2002 1,428 0 0 756 0 0 
			 2003 1,788 1 1 958 1 1 
			 2004 2,247 0 1 1,245 0 0 
			 2005 3,807 0 1 2,074 0 1 
			 n/a = Not available (1 )Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics (2006) report: Deaths involving clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 1999-2004. Health Statistics Quarterly 30, 56-60. (2) Deaths registered in 1999, deaths occurring in 2001-05. (3) Excludes neonatal deaths (aged under 28 days) (4) Total for under five years includes deaths under one year of age. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of death certificates with MRSA( 1)  mentioned and as the underlying cause of death, England and Wales, 1997-2005( 2) 
			   Mentions  Underlying cause( 3) 
			   All ages  Age under one year  Age under five years( 4)  All ages  Age under one year  Age under five years( 4) 
			 1997 389 1 1 102 0 0 
			 1998 412 3 4 118 2 2 
			 1999 487 0 1 126 0 0 
			 2000 669 0 0 195 0 0 
			 2001 734 1 1 254 0 0 
			 2002 800 0 1 248 0 0 
			 2003 955 2 2 321 0 0 
			 2004 1,168 1 1 360 0 0 
			 2005 1,629 6 6 467 2 2 
			 (1 )Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004) Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993-2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21, 15-22. (2) Deaths occurring in 1997-2005. (3) Excludes neonatal deaths (aged under 28 days). (4 )Total for under five years includes deaths under one year of age.

Customs Officers: South West Region

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many customs officers  (a) there were and  (b) were withdrawn in the South West in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: HM Revenue and Customs currently have approximately 4,500 frontline officers deployed to tackle smuggling at the frontier on an intelligence-led basis where risk is greatest.
	HM Revenue and Customs do not disclose the numbers of staff deployed to specific locations, as to do so would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.

Death: Firearms

Chris Mullin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died from gunshot wounds in the UK in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people died from gunshot wounds in the UK in each of the last 10 years. I am replying in her absence. (160004)
	The table below contain numbers of firearm injury deaths with a Coroner's verdict of accident, suicide, homicide, and undetermined intent in the UK from 1997 to 2006, the latest available year.
	
		
			  Number of deaths from firearm injury,( 1)  United Kingdom, 1997 to 2006( 2) 
			   Number of deaths 
			 1997 198 
			 1998 229 
			 1999 207 
			 2000 204 
			 2001 193 
			 2002 181 
			 2003 187 
			 2004 191 
			 2005 185 
			 2006(3) 210 
			 (1 )The cause of death for firearm injury was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes listed below for the years 1997 to 2000 for England and Wales and Northern Ireland and from 1997 to 1999 for Scotland, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes listed below from 2001 onwards for England and Wales and Northern Ireland and from 2000 onwards for Scotland.  ICD-9: E922, E955.0-E955.4, E965.0-E965.4, E970, E985.0-E985.4 ICD-10: W32-W34, X72-X74, X93-X95, Y22-Y24, Y35.0. Figures include deaths with a Coroner's verdict of accident, suicide, homicide and undetermined intent. (2) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (3) Data are provisional for Northern Ireland.

Death: Weather

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many winter excess deaths there were in  (a) England and  (b) the UK in each year since 1996-97.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated  2 5 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the winter mortality statistics were for (a) England and (b) the UK for the number of winter excess deaths in each year since 1996-97. I am replying in her absence. (160273)
	ONS has published figures for excess winter mortality for England on the National Statistics website for winters from 1991/92 onwards. The latest data are currently provisional figures for 2005/06.
	Excess winter mortality figures are not produced for the UK. Figures for England can be found via the link below:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D7089.xls

Departments: Alcoholic Drinks

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many bottles of champagne his Department purchased in the last 12 months.

Angela Eagle: Amounts spent annually on alcohol for HM Treasury staff are not recorded separately from other subsistence or hospitality spending and could be disaggregated only at disproportionate cost.
	Subsistence and hospitality costs are only incurred within the rules set out in the "Civil Service Management Code" as well as the Treasury's internal guidance

Departments: Overtime

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was paid to staff in overtime in his Department in each of the last 12 months.

Angela Eagle: Staff are encouraged to make full use of HM Treasury's flexi-time working arrangement, which includes the option to take accrued excess hours as time off in lieu. However, where this has not been practical, the following table gives the amounts paid in overtime to HM Treasury staff in each of the past 12 months.
	
		
			  Month  Cost (£000) 
			 October 2006 30 
			 November 2006 51 
			 December 2006 93 
			 January 2007 98 
			 February 2007 52 
			 March 2007 183 
			 April 2007 30 
			 May 2007 70 
			 June 2007 42 
			 July 2007 37 
			 August 2007 30 
			 September 2007 15 
		
	
	The peaks in December 2006/January 2007 and March 2007 are due to Treasury staff working additional hours in preparation for the pre-Budget report in December 2006 and the annual Budget in March 2007.

Divorce

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many divorces occurred in families with  (a) one relevant male child and  (b) one relevant female child in the last year for which data are available.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your request for the number of divorces occurring in families with a) one relevant male child and b) one relevant female child, in the last year for which data is available. I am replying in her absence. (160493)
	In England and Wales information about the sex of any child of the family is not collected by the Court Service when recording a divorce. I am, therefore, unable to provide you with the statistics you requested.

Drugs: South West Region

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many customs officers there were covering Devon and Cornwall in each of the last five years; and how many kilos of  (a) heroin,  (b) cocaine,  (c) ecstasy and  (d) cannabis were seized in Devon and Cornwall in that period.

Angela Eagle: Nationally, there are approximately 4,500 front-line customs officers deployed to tackle smuggling at the frontier. These officers are deployed on a flexible and intelligence-led basis to wherever the risk is greatest.
	HM Revenue and Customs do not release information about seizures below a national level as they consider that to do so would assist those who seek to evade the controls. Information on seizures made by HM Revenue and Customs since 2003 is contained in their annual reports available at www.hmrc.gov.uk

Duty Free Allowances: Tobacco

David Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what guidance he has issued on the levels of personal import allowances for  (a) tobacco and  (b) alcohol in relation to EU member states acceding (i) since and (ii) prior to 1999; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps have been taken to publicise the import allowances for tobacco and alcohol applicable to travellers to EU member states joining the EU  (a) before and  (b) since 1999.

Jane Kennedy: Since completion of the single market in 1993, persons travelling between EU member states have been able to bring with them unlimited quantities of alcohol and tobacco, provided that the product is bought duty paid in the member state of purchase, is for their personal use, and is transported by them. HM Revenue and Customs (formerly HM Customs and Excise) publishes guidance on this in Public Notice 1 "A Customs Guide for Travellers Entering the UK", copies of which are available at all UK ports and airports, on the HMRC website, or by calling the HMRC National Advice Service. It is also contained in the Customs Allowances posters displayed at all UK ports and airports.
	Exceptions to these arrangements were agreed at EU level in 2004 and 2007 as part of transitional arrangements for countries joining the EU at those times. Existing member states were given the option to apply certain quantitative restrictions on personal importations of tobacco from accession countries for as long as those countries' excise duty rates were below minimum EU levels. The UK applies these restrictions, which are identical to those applicable to travellers from non-EU countries, and has publicised this fact widely by amendments to the aforementioned guidance and publicity materials. Additionally, posters were placed in major airports of the accession countries concerned, and adverts were placed in a number of in-flight magazines.
	Once the duty rates of the accession countries rise to minimum EU levels, the UK has committed to disapply these restrictions, and has already done so in the case of certain categories of tobacco products from two accession countries.

Employment: Sandwell

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in  (a) Warley constituency and  (b) Sandwell metropolitan borough council area were (i) employed (A) full-time and (B) part-time and (ii) unemployed at (1) the latest date for which figures are available and (2) at the same date in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about employment and unemployment. I am replying in her absence. (160041)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions. The latest available data from the APS refer to April 2006 to March 2007.
	For unitary and local authorities, the ONS produces estimates of total unemployment, following ILO definitions, from a statistical model. Annual estimates for other areas are compiled from the annual local area LFS and the APS following ILO definitions.
	Table 1 attached, shows the number of people, aged 16 and over, resident in Sandwell and in Warley parliamentary constituency, who were in full-time and part-time employment for the 12 months ending in February from 1998 to 2004 from the local area LFS, and for the 12 months ending in March from 2005 to 2007 from the APS. The table also shows the numbers unemployed and the unemployment rates for the two areas for the same periods.
	As these estimates are for a subset of the population in small geographical areas, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. In this case the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over the period.
	ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA). Table 2, attached, shows the annual average numbers of people resident in Sandwell and in Warley parliamentary constituency for the same periods as the unemployment estimates provided from the annual LFS and APS.
	The JSA claimant counts for Sandwell and Warley are also provided for September 2007 (the latest available data). The numbers of claimants are also shown as percentages of the resident working age populations of the areas.
	
		
			  Table 1: Full-time and part-time employment, and unemployment, in Sandwell local authority and Warley parliamentary constituency 
			   Sandwell  Warley parliamentary constituency 
			   In employment (1000s)  Unemployment  In employment (1000s)  Unemployment 
			  12 months ending  Full-time  Part-time  Level (1000s)  Rate (%)  Full-time  Part-time  Level (1000s)  Rate (%) 
			  February 
			 1998 86 24 11 9 25 9 3 9 
			 1999 86 28 12 9 26 11 3 6 
			 2000 91 25 13 10 25 6 3 9 
			 2001 89 24 11 9 27 4 3 10 
			 2002 91 26 10 8 25 6 3 10 
			 2003 85 28 10 8 23 7 3 9 
			 2004 85 30 11 8 22 8 4 11 
			  March 
			 2005 84 30 10 8 23 7 4 11 
			 2006 87 28 9 7 27 4 3 8 
			 2007 90 24 9 7 27 5 2 7 
			  Note: Data subject to sampling variability. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution.  Source:  Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey.; Model-based unemployment estimates 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of claimants of jobseeker's allowance and proportions of working age populations for residents of Sandwell local authority and Warley parliamentary constituency 
			   Sandwell  Warley parliamentary constituency 
			  Period  Number of claimants  Proportion( 1 ) (%)  Number of claimants  Proportion( 1)  (%) 
			  Average count for: 
			 March 1997 to February 1998 10,505 6.2 3,095 6.7 
			 March 1998 to February 1999 9,489 5.6 2,733 5.9 
			 March 1999 to February 2000 9,576 5.7 2,741 6.0 
			 March 2000 to February 2001 8,843 5.2 2,598 5.7 
			 March 2001 to February 2002 8,052 4.7 2,260 4.9 
			 March 2002 to February 2003 7,773 4.6 2,197 4.8 
			 March 2003 to February 2004 7,768 4.5 2,281 5.0 
			 April 2004 to March 2005 7,011 4.1 2,040 4.4 
			 April 2005 to March 2006 8,078 4.7 2,230 4.9 
			 April 2006 to March 2007 8,820 5.1 2,456 5.3 
			  Count for: 
			 September 2007 7,740 4.4 2,210 4.8 
			 (1) Number of claimants expressed as a percentage of the resident working-age population.  Source:  Jobcentre Plus administrative data

Financial Services: National Income

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of UK gross domestic product came from  (a) UK financial services and  (b) institutions in the City of London/Square Mile in the latest period for which figures are available.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mow, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question requesting the percentage of UK gross domestic product that came from a) UK financial services and (b) institutions in the City of London/Square Mile. I am replying in her absence. (160666)
	Financial intermediation contributes 7.9% of Gross Value Added (GVA), which is a proxy for GDP. This consists of banking (5.2%), insurance (1.6%) and acts auxiliary to financial intermediation (1.0%).
	These figures use weights derived in 2003, which are the latest available.
	The Office for National Statistics publishes regional GVA using official statistical geographies known as Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS). The NUTS classification does not fully correspond to the institutions in the City of London/Square Mile.
	The City of London/Square Mile is in the NUTS3 region of Inner London West but it is not possible to isolate the GVA of the City of London institutions. The latest published NUTS3 data can be found at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=14650

Income Tax

Graham Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much would be raised in a year by an additional 1 penny on the income tax rate.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested was recently published in HM Treasury's tax ready reckoner—"2007 tax ready reckoner and tax reliefs" and is available in the House of Commons Library or the HMT website.

Infant Mortality

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rate of infant mortality was in  (a) the five most deprived areas in England and  (b) England in each year since 1979.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the rate of infant mortality was in  (a) the five most deprived areas in England and  (b) England in each year since 1979. I am replying in her absence. (159809)
	The five most deprived areas in England were identified as the local authority districts (LAD) with highest deprivation according to the English Indices of Deprivation 2004. Hackney had the highest level of deprivation, Tower Hamlets was ranked second, Manchester third, Islington fourth and Liverpool fifth. Infant mortality rates are provided for these same LADs for all the years.
	The attached table shows infant mortality rates for the five most deprived areas (Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Manchester, Islington and Liverpool) and England from 1979 to 2005 (the latest year available).
	
		
			  Infant mortality rates for England and the five most deprived areas in England, 1979-2005 
			   Hackney  Tower Hamlets  Manchester  Islington  Liverpool  England 
			 1979 11.7 19.1 18.5 17.6 11.4 12.8 
			 1980 16.0 12.3 16.8 14.0 14.5 12.0 
			 1981 12.9 13.7 11.0 11.5 10.7 10.9 
			 1982 11.0 14.9 15.4 12.8 8.7 10.8 
			 1983 11.8 10.7 11.2 10.6 9.7 10.0 
			 1984 10.5 10.8 9.8 11.6 7.1 9.4 
			 1985 11.5 7.3 9.6 7.3 8.1 9.2 
			 1986 11.6 8.7 11.1 8.8 11.5 9.5 
			 1987 12.9 11.5 8.1 7.9 7.8 9.1 
			 1988 9.3 11.6 10.0 8.9 7.0 9.1 
			 1989 9.6 9.2 11.5 8.5 7.6 8.4 
			 1990 8.8 7.7 8.9 11.0 6.7 7.9 
			 1991 8.7 8.4 9.0 6.9 7.0 7.3 
			 1992 8.3 7.9 8.4 9.1 5.2 6.5 
			 1993 8.4 4.9 8.3 5.7 4.3 6.3 
			 1994 11.4 6.6 6.8 5.0 4.8 6.1 
			 1995 9.1 8.7 9.6 6.8 7.1 6.1 
			 1996 7.4 6.4 7.2 4.8 6.5 6.0 
			 1997 10.5 5.6 8.9 3.1 7.2 5.9 
			 1998 6.1 7.6 6.7 4.3 6.9 5.6 
			 1999 9.1 6.0 9.5 8.8 6.8 5.7 
			 2000 6.2 5.9 8.7 5.5 7.0 5.6 
			 2001 7.8 5.2 9.6 6.0 6.7 5.4 
			 2002 9.3 6.0 9.0 4.4 6.1 5.2 
			 2003 6.9 4.8 6.5 7.9 4.7 5.3 
			 2004 3.4 4.2 8.2 7.5 5.7 5.0 
			 2005 5.6 4.3 7.2 5.5 8.1 5.0 
			  Notes:  1 Infant mortality rates per 1,000 live births.  2 Rates based on fewer than 20 deaths are shown in italics.  3 From 2002 onwards City of London LB is included in the rates for Hackney LB.  4 2006 figures on a comparable basis are not yet available.

Local Strategic Partnerships: Finance

Graham Allen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what funding will be allocated to local strategic partnerships for the financial year 2008-09.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	No funding is specifically allocated for use by local strategic partnerships (LSPs). Local partners are individually responsible for any funding allocated to them, and for resourcing their LSP.

National Insurance Fund

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was in the national insurance fund in each month in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Kennedy: End year balance figures are published in the national insurance fund annual accounts.
	The monthly balance on the GB National Insurance Fund from September 1996 to March 2006 is shown in the following table. 2005-06 is the last year for which audited accounts of the NI Fund are available.
	
		
			  £ billion 
			  Month  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-3  2003-04  2004-5  2005-06 
			 April — 7.9 9.4 12.4 13.5 19.3 22.4 24.4 26.5 28.8 
			 May — 7.7 9.5 11.0 14.7 19.9 22.6 24.9 25.8 29.8 
			 June — 7.5 9.5 12.7 14.6 20.0 22.9 24.5 25.4 29.5 
			 July — 7.6 10.4 12.6 15.2 20.1 23.8 26.1 27.2 30.7 
			 August — 7.2 10.9 13.1 15.2 19.8 23.6 24.7 28.0 30.9 
			 September 6.4 7.2 11.2 13.0 15.2 20.7 23.3 23.1 27.9 30.1 
			 October 6.8 7.3 11.2 12.3 15.1 20.6 23.1 22.9 27.1 30.3 
			 November 6.2 6.7 11.2 12.5 16.0 20.9 23.2 23.0 26.7 30.4 
			 December 5.5 6.2 10.4 11.8 16.0 21.1 22.4 22.2 25.2 29.4 
			 January 6.7 7.1 11.3 12.8 17.1 21.3 22.6 24.2 25.3 31.8 
			 February 6.6 7.8 11.5 13.4 18.1 22.6 23.8 25.5 25.6 33.3 
			 March 6.7 8.5 11.6 13.4 18.1 21.5 24.4 26.6 27.8 34.8 
		
	
	The balances for 2006-07 are not provided as the accounts for that year have not been finalised and are subject to audit by the NAO at this time.
	The NI fund operates within the Government's fiscal rules and any surplus is invested to help fund public services.

Productivity

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the average percentage change in the productivity of  (a) the financial services sector and  (b) the economy as a whole in each year since 1998.

Kitty Ussher: There is no official estimate for the average productivity change in the financial services sector. A more detailed explanation can be found in the Productivity Handbook published by the Office for National Statistics
	www.statistics.gov.uk
	The Treasury's latest assessment of trend productivity growth over recent years is set out in Table A2 of the 2007 pre-Budget report. Data on whole economy output per worker and output per hour worked for each year since 1998 are available from the Office for National Statistics.

Revenue and Customs: Theft

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many laptops have been stolen from HM Revenue and Customs in the last 12 months;
	(2)  what disciplinary action has been taken further to the theft of a laptop computer from HM Revenue and Customs in September; and if he will make a statement on the rules concerning keeping laptop computers in cars by HM Revenue and Customs;
	(3)  what type of data was held on the laptop stolen from HM Revenue and Customs in September 2007; how many records were stored on the laptop; to which financial institutions the records applied; and to how many individuals the records applied.

Jane Kennedy: 41 laptops were stolen between October 2006 and September 2007, 16 of them during a break-in at one of HMRC's offices.
	Some 9,500 laptops are issued to HMRC staff who work away from their offices. The Department takes all thefts very seriously and acts appropriately in accordance with its security procedures.
	I cannot comment on staff disciplinary matters or disclose information relating to the data held on stolen laptops.

Unemployment: Glasgow

David Marshall: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many unemployed  (a) male and  (b) female young people live in Glasgow, East constituency; and what percentage each figure represents;
	(2)  how many unemployed adult  (a) males and  (b) females live in Glasgow, East constituency; and what percentage each figure represents.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Questions about unemployment. I am replying in her absence. (160055, 160056)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	Table 1, attached, shows the numbers unemployed and the unemployment rates for youth and adult males and females in the Glasgow East constituency for the 12 months ending March 2007 (the latest period for which data are available). The unemployment rate is defined as the number unemployed as the percentage of the number of economically active persons in the age and sex group of interest. Table 1 also shows the number unemployed as the percentage of all persons in the age and sex group. In this table youth is defined as those aged 16 to 24 and adult refers to those aged 25 or more.
	As these estimates are for a subset of the population in a small geographical area, they are based on small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty.
	ONS also compiles statistics for local areas on numbers of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA). Table 2, attached, shows the average numbers of young and adult males and females resident in the Glasgow East constituency, claiming JSA between April 2006 and March 2007.
	Table 2 also shows the numbers of young and adult males and females claiming JSA in September 2007 (the latest period for which data are available). For JSA claimants, youth is defined as those aged 18 to 24, and adult refers to those aged 25 or more.
	
		
			  Table 1: Unemployed persons, by age and sex, resident in the Glasgow East parliamentary constituency, April 2006 to March 2007 
			   Level (1000s)  Rate( 1)  Percentage( 2) 
			  Females 
			 Aged 16 to 24 (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Aged 25+ 1,000 6 3 
			 
			  Males 
			 Aged 16 to 24 (3)— (3)— (3)— 
			 Aged 25+ 2 10 6 
			 (1) Unemployed as a percentage of the number of economically active persons in relevant age and sex group. (2) Unemployed as percentage of the total number in relevant age and sex group (3) Sample too small to provide estimate  Note: Estimates are subject to sampling variability.  Source: Annual population survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance by age and sex, resident in the Glasgow East parliamentary constituency 
			   Average count April 2006 to March 2007  Count in September 2007 
			  Females 
			 Aged 16 to 24 225 205 
			 Aged 25+ 315 315 
			
			  Males 
			 Aged 16 to 24 565 465 
			 Aged 25+ 1,360 1,255 
			  Notes: 1. Claimant count data by age includes computerised claims only. 2. Dataset rounded to the nearest five.  Source:  Jobcentre Plus administrative data

Unemployment: Young People

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many under 25 year olds were not in employment, education or training in  (a) England,  (b) Northamptonshire and  (c) Kettering in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about young people not in education, training or employment. I am replying in her absence. (160598)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation (ILO) definitions.
	The table attached shows the numbers of 16 to 24 year olds not in full-time education, employment or training, resident in the Kettering constituency, Northamptonshire county and England. Estimates are provided from the local area LFS for the 12 months ending in February, for 2003 and 2004, and from the APS for the 12 months ending in March, for 2005 to 2007. The table also shows these numbers as the percentage of all 16 to 24 year olds in the areas, for each year, which allows changes to be seen in the context of changing population numbers.
	Estimates for a subset of the population in a small geographical area are based on very small sample sizes, and are therefore subject to large margins of uncertainty. Changes over time should be treated with particular caution.
	
		
			  Persons aged 16 to 24 who are not in full-time education, employment or training resident in the Kettering constituency, Northamptonshire county and England 
			  Thousand 
			   Kettering  Northamptonshire  England 
			  12 months ending:  Number  Percentage of all 16 to 24-year olds  Number  Percentage of all 16 to 24-year olds  Number  Percentage of all 16 to 24-year olds 
			 February 2003 (1)— (1)— 7 12 865 16 
			 February 2004 (1)— (1)— 12 17 897 16 
			 March 2005 1 18 10 15 919 17 
			 March 2006 2 13 13 18 969 17 
			 March 2007 (1)— (1)— 13 17 1,011 18 
			 (1) Sample size too small to provide estimates.  Notes: 1. Estimates are subject to sampling variability. 2. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with caution.  Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population survey.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether there is a value at which a tax credit overpayment would be considered unreasonable in a situation in which there was no official error and the claimant had notified HM Revenue and Customs of the relevant change of circumstance.

Jane Kennedy: HMRC's policy on recovering overpayments is set out in Code of Practice 26: "What happens if we pay you too much tax credit?"
	I announced to the House on 18 October 2007,  Official Report, column 944, that as part of that, HMRC will be replacing the reasonable belief test with a clearer test that will set out customers' responsibilities for checking factual information.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the largest tax credit overpayment waived was in the financial year  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2005-06,  (c) 2004-05 and  (d) 2003-04;
	(2)  how many tax credits overpayments waived were worth  (a) under £1,000,  (b) £1,000 to £1,999,  (c) £2,000 to £2,999,  (d) £3,000 to £3,999,  (e) £4,000 to £4,999,  (f) £5,000 to £5,999,  (g) £6,000 to £6,999,  (h) £7,000 to £7,999,  (i) £8,000 to £8,999,  (j) £9,000 to £9,999 and  (k) over £10,000 in the financial year (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05, (iii) 2005-06 and (iv) 2006-07.

Jane Kennedy: The information would be available only at disproportionate cost.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions one unit of HM Revenue and Customs has indicated an intention to take court action, a claimant who had already reached a repayment agreement with another unit of HM Revenue and Customs in relation to a tax credit overpayment.

Jane Kennedy: The information is not available. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs has processes in place to prevent different actions taking place on the same debt and if this occurred in error would only record such an incident on the individual case.

Welfare Tax Credits: Overpayments

Danny Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions tax credit claimants who had submitted documentary evidence of their wage have had their income registered as nil by HM Revenue and Customs and subsequently been overpaid.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available. Guidance notes included in tax credits claim packs and notes which accompany annual declaration forms provide step by step instructions telling customers how to calculate their income for tax credits purposes and where to record it on their forms.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether a programme similar to that for Iraqi staff will be established to recognise local Afghan staff working for the British Government in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Locally engaged Afghan staff working for our armed forces and civilian missions in Afghanistan have made an invaluable contribution to the UK's efforts to help support the spread of security, stability and development in their country. We acknowledge their contribution with gratitude. But given the difference in circumstances between them and their colleagues in Iraq, there are no plans for a similar scheme of assistance.

Arctic

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with countries with a territorial interest in the Arctic on potential claims; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not had any discussions with countries with a territorial interest in the Arctic on the subject of potential claims which they may make in the region. States parties to the UN convention on the law of the sea may be entitled to claim an extended continental shelf beyond their territorial waters, subject to certain geological conditions, as defined in the convention.

British Overseas Territories

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the areas where the UK has plans to stake territorial claims; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: The UK has so far made one claim to the UN Commission on the limits of the continental shelf (CLCS) for the extension of the continental shelf under Article 76 of the UN convention of the law of the sea. We are also considering lodging up to four more claims before the right to do so expires in May 2009.
	The UK has submitted a claim, jointly with France, Ireland and Spain, for an area of the Bay of Biscay, and this is currently under consideration by the CLCS. The UK is also considering the potential submission of claims for the areas around the Ascension Islands, off the British Antarctic Territory, around the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, and in the Hatton/Rockall area.

Burma: Drugs

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made of the impact of the increase in poppy cultivation in Burma on peace and security in the region; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported an increase in poppy cultivation in Burma of 29 per cent. in 2007, from 21,500 hectares to 27,700 hectares. This follows six years of decrease. Cultivation is concentrated in South Shan State, which accounts for 90 per cent. of opium grown in Burma. Most of the poppy-growing areas are outside government control.
	The UK has not made any assessment on the impact on peace and security in the region. However, UNODC assess that where drug-growing areas and insecurity overlap, the activity of criminal groups can add to instability by trying to control poppy farming and using drugs to fund their operations. The need for sustained alternative development programmes for the poor communities to help them turn to a legal income is therefore essential to ensure that cultivation in Burma is reduced.

Burma: Economic Policy

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations his Department has made to the governments of  (a) China,  (b) Russia,  (c) India and  (d) France on their economic ties with the Burmese military government.

Meg Munn: We regularly raise our concerns about Burma with international partners, explaining why we support targeted economic measures to press the regime to change policy and highlighting the wider benefits of a democratic and stable Burma for the region. We have raised the situation with the Chinese, Russian, Indian and French governments. They are aware of our concerns regarding Burma.

Burma: Overseas Trade

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what trade exists between the UK and Burma; what the value is of such trade; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: We do not actively monitor business activities in Burma. However, we do follow reports on such activities produced by the UN, non-governmental organisations and other organisations. We monitor the level of UK corporate activities through statistics from the Office for National Statistics and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, which show that trade and investment in Burma has fallen in recent years.
	In terms of total imports of goods from Burma, the UK currently ranks second in the EU after Germany. However, the value of imports from Burma to the UK halved between 2004 and 2005. In the first eight months of 2007 the UK imported £19 million worth of goods from Burma and exported £2 million.
	The Government have a long-standing policy of discouraging British firms from trading with, or investing in, Burma. We offer no commercial services to companies wishing to trade or invest there.
	The UK has been working hard with its partners in the EU on further restrictions on commercial engagement with Burma to reduce funding sources available to the regime. EU Foreign Ministers met on 15 October and agreed to strengthen measures against the regime. The new measures include an export ban on equipment to the sectors of logs and timber and mining of metals, minerals, precious and semi precious stones; an import ban of products of the sectors mentioned before; and an investment ban in these sectors.

Burma: Politics and Government

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of his meetings with the Indian Minister for External Affairs on 3 October and the Chinese Foreign Minister on 29 September on the situation in Burma.

Meg Munn: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met with Indian Minister for External Affairs, Mr. Prunab Mukherjee, on 3 October, to discuss the situation in Burma, among other issues. The External Affairs Minister agreed that a process of political reform and national reconciliation must begin in Burma to bring stability and prosperity to the country.
	I too raised Burma with the Indian Minister of State, Mr. E Ahamed, and I underlined the important role India could play in persuading the Burmese regime to embrace reconciliation.
	My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister also raised Burma in a telephone conversation with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as did my noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, the right hon. Lord Malloch-Brown, during his recent visit to India.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met Chinese Foreign Minister Yang on 29 September in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. He underlined the need to work closely with China on the issue of Burma, including giving full support to Professor Gambari's mission.
	China is in a unique position to help positive political change in Burma. To that end, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister discussed Burma with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have kept in touch since with their Chinese opposite numbers by phone and by letter.

Defence: Exports

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations the Government have received from UK ambassadors and high commissioners since 25 July on arrangements in Government for defence exports.

Kim Howells: The Government have received one such representation since 25 July.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Security

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to guarantee the security of the civilian Tutsi community of eastern DRC during and after the military operations in the area.

Meg Munn: We continue to press the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for a peaceful solution to the crisis in the east of the country to avert further humanitarian suffering.
	My noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, the right hon. Lord Malloch-Brown, met a delegation of advisers to President Kabila in London on 13 September and spoke to President Kabila at the UN on 26 September. On both occasions he encouraged the Congolese Government to continue to look for a political solution to the problems affecting the east of the country rather than take a solely military approach, and to ensure the security of the local population.
	The UK is the largest donor of humanitarian aid to DRC, which is helping to alleviate some of the impact on civilians of the current insecurity in the east.

Departments: Correspondence

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what guidance his Department follows on the maximum time taken to respond to hon. Members' correspondence; and what performance against that target was in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Meg Munn: I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster gave to him on 22 October 2007,  Official Report, column 45W.

Departments: Manpower

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many and what percentage of employees in  (a) his Department and  (b) each (i) executive agency and (ii) non-departmental public body funded by his Department are above state retirement age.

Meg Munn: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) employed 40 staff (0.65 per cent. of the total workforce) who were above the state retirement age on 1 October 2006. In addition FCO Directorates and overseas Missions recruit contract or agency staff for specific tasks or projects. Some of these staff are above the state retirement age; but we do not hold records for them centrally. To collate the figures would incur disproportionate cost.
	Wilton Park, an executive agency of the FCO, employs no staff over the state retirement age. Appointments to non-departmental public bodies supported by the FCO are made independently of the FCO. We do not hold staff records for them.
	The FCO is committed to promoting age equality in the workplace. We were amongst the first Department in Whitehall to abolish mandatory retirement ages for all staff below the Senior Management Structure/Senior Civil Service (for whom a retirement age of 65 had been set centrally) in 2006.

Departments: Public Participation

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many citizens' juries were arranged for  (a) his Department and  (b) his Department's agencies in each year since 1997; which organisations were commissioned to conduct each citizens' jury; and what the cost was of each.

Meg Munn: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not arranged any citizens' juries since 1997.

EU External Relations: Commonwealth

David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to improve EU-Commonwealth relations; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary will continue to support strongly the work done by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth to increase contacts and interaction between the EU and the Commonwealth, including on issues such as election observation, trade and good governance.

EU Reform: Treaties

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the most significant five differences are between the Constitutional Treaty under consideration in 2005 and the Reform Treaty agreed at Lisbon.

Jim Murphy: The draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe is now defunct. The inter-governmental conference mandate records the agreement of all 27 Heads that:
	"The constitutional concept...is abandoned".
	The Constitutional Treaty was legally unprecedented. It would have abolished the EU and refounded it under a single, constitutional order. The reform treaty by contrast, amends the existing treaties—just like the Single European Act, Maastricht, Nice and Amsterdam.
	The Government have secured extra safeguards on each of the four red lines set out ahead of the June European Council. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee on 11 and 18 October setting out how the Government's four red lines are met in the latest draft of the reform treaty.
	These letters have been placed in the Library of the House.

EU Reform: Treaties

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information has been available to him to enable him to assess popular support for a referendum on the proposed European Treaty.

Jim Murphy: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not commissioned any polls on this issue.

European Union: Publicity

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent action the Government has taken to inform the public about the European Union and the UK's membership of it.

Jim Murphy: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has a range of tools to inform the public about the EU and the UK's membership of it. The FCO's website at www.europe.gov.uk is a comprehensive source of information. A number of FCO officials and Ministers have recently launched blogs on the website, to explain their day-to-day dealings in European affairs. We also produce publications, such as our "Guide to the EU", which is available free of charge, upon request.
	The FCO is also involved in a number of activities to raise awareness and debate on EU issues. For example, the FCO is working with the UK Representation of the European Commission and the UK Office of the European Parliament on the "Learning Together" project, launched in March 2007, to increase partnerships between UK schools and their counterparts in Europe.

HMS Sussex

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's objectives are in the negotiations with Spain on the location and subsequent excavation of the sunken British warship Sussex off the coast of Gibraltar.

Jim Murphy: The Ministry of Defence has concluded a partnering agreement with the US company, Odyssey Marine Exploration, for the archaeological excavation and recovery of artefacts from the wreck of the Sussex. The company believes it has located the wreck on the seabed in the Straits of Gibraltar. The next stage of the operation will be the definitive identification of the wreck site.
	The Government are not currently involved in any negotiations with Spain on this matter.

HMS Sussex

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that the gold onboard the sunken warship, the Sussex, is not claimed by the Spanish government.

Jim Murphy: The wreck in question has not yet been confirmed to be that of the Sussex and its cargo has also still to be identified. If the sunken vessel is identified as the Sussex, the Government of Spain has informed us that it will respect international laws of sovereign immunity and lay no claim to the wreck. We also understand that Spain has no intention of investigating the wreck site.

Iraq: Casualties

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the Prime Minister's response to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Jeremy Corbyn) following his Oral Statement on Iraq on 8 October 2007,  Official Report, column 33, what the evidential basis was for not accepting the figure quoted by the hon. Member on the number of Iraqi civilian deaths since the 2003 invasion; and what his estimate is of the number of such deaths.

Kim Howells: The Government do not collate figures for civilian casualties in Iraq. The Government of Iraq are best placed to monitor the numbers of Iraqi civilian casualties. We continue to believe that there are no comprehensive or reliable figures for deaths since March 2003.

Iraq: Christianity

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the welfare of Christians in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: Christians in Iraq have been badly affected by the high levels of violence in the country. We are aware of recent threats received by Christians from extremists in certain areas of Baghdad. We have raised this with the Iraqi Government who, with the backing of coalition forces, is taking measures to increase security in those areas. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs where and when he raised the concerns of Sir Mike Jackson on US policy in Iraq with his US counterpart; and if he will publish the minutes of the meeting.

Jim Murphy: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not discussed the concerns of Sir Mike Jackson about US policy in Iraq with his US counterpart.

Iraq: Reconstruction

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what initiatives are being pursued by  (a) his Department and  (b) the British embassy in Baghdad to encourage investment by British companies and British nationals in reconstruction and other economic activity in Iraq;
	(2)  what categories of assistance are available from the British embassy in Baghdad to encourage and promote direct investment in Iraq by British companies and British nationals; what such investments have been made over the last 12 months; and what assistance was provided by the British embassy in each case;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of  (a) investment and  (b) contractual work in Iraq involving British companies over the period since formal hostilities were declared to be over.

Kim Howells: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) officials in the UK, Iraq and Jordan, advise British companies on trade and investment opportunities in Iraq, as well as general economic, political and security developments. Details of Iraqi government tenders and other contracts are published on the UKTI website and FCO officials in Iraq lobby on behalf of British companies pursuing specific contracts, when required. UKTI officials in the UK support inward visit programmes, seminars and other events with a commercial focus: enabling British companies to engage directly with Iraqi Ministers and officials responsible for Government contracts.
	UKTI officials in our embassy in Amman carry out a significant amount of Iraq-based work through contacts with leading Iraqi companies and business people based in Jordan. The UKTI team in Amman also maintains close contact with the World Bank and other international financial institutions working in Iraq that are based in Jordan, and has supported an annual British company presence at the Rebuild Iraq trade exhibition. UKTI officials based in both Amman and Baghdad have participated in two British trade missions to the Kurdistan region over the past year, with the support of FCO staff in the region.
	Over recent years, UKTI and FCO officials have supported a large number of British companies interested in trade and investment opportunities in Iraq. However, records covering private investment by British companies in Iraq are not kept and it is, therefore, not possible either to summarise the private investments made over the past 12 months, or estimate the proportion of direct investment or contractual work involving British companies since formal hostilities were declared to be over.

Iraq: Resettlement

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what definition he uses of locally employed staff; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's definition of local staff is staff who are recruited locally and employed overseas to work in British Diplomatic Missions in a variety of roles.

Islam

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has received representations from governments abroad on the publication of material in the UK critical of Wahhabism.

Jim Murphy: The Saudi Ambassador to London wrote to my right hon. Friend the Member for Derby, South (Margaret Beckett) then Foreign Secretary on 17 January 2007 to express concern about the content of the Channel Four's Dispatches Programme: "Undercover Mosques". However, we have not received any specific representation from foreign Governments about the publication of material in the UK that is critical of Wahhabism.

Occupied Territories

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the likely impact of Israel's declaration that Gaza is a hostile entity on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, including on the supply of water, power, fuel and food supplies;
	(2)  what representations the Government has made to Israel on its declaration that Gaza is a hostile entity.

Kim Howells: We are concerned about reports that the Israeli Government may reduce services to Gaza.
	Israel has expressed its commitment to avoiding a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and we continue to call on them to maintain this and ensure that their actions are in accordance with international law. Innocent Palestinians should not suffer because of the actions of violent extremists.

Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the withdrawal of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement from the Unity Government on the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Deal; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: Parties in both the north and south have re-affirmed their commitment to full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) since the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) withdrew from the Government of National Unity. However, the SPLM has not yet returned to government. We are urging both sides to enable the SPLM to resume their place and to complete implementation of the CPA as soon as possible.

Sudan: Politics and Government

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to mediate with the different parties in Sudan's Government of National Unity (GNU); what reports he has received on the effect of the recent reshuffle of Ministers on  (a) the viability of the GNU and  (b) the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including the points of issue in the ongoing dispute; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: h o lding answer 24 October 2007
	We are working with both sides to enable the Sudan People's Liberation Movement to resume fully their place in the national government and to resume serious implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement as soon as possible.

Ukraine: Work Permits

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether people entering the UK from the Ukraine for the purposes of the performing arts are required to pay the revised charge for a work visa.

Kim Howells: A new migration and visa fee structure was introduced on 1 April. People entering the UK from the Ukraine for the purposes of the performing arts were required to pay the revised charge of £200 for a work visa from this date. Those performing at permit-free festivals must pay a visa fee of £99. This new fee structure is intended to meet a number of objectives, to provide sufficient revenue to meet the costs of an effective management of the end-to-end migration system, to reflect more appropriately the value attributed to specific categories of entitlement by migrants and visitors, but also to set fees at levels which maintain the UK's ability to attract people in an increasingly competitive international environment.

UN General Assembly: Nuclear Disarmament

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at what level his Department is represented at the ongoing 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly; what proposals the UK will present before the committee dealing with nuclear disarmament; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The United Kingdom is represented at the United Nations General Assembly First Committee by John Duncan, our ambassador for Multilateral Arms Control and Disarmament and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament at Geneva. Ambassador Duncan is supported by colleagues based in Geneva, New York and London. Within First Committee the UK traditionally makes common statements with our EU partners. Accordingly, the EU delivered a statement in the nuclear weapons debate on 17 October this year. The EU reiterated its support for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament in accordance with article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and stressed the need for an overall reduction of the global stockpile of nuclear weapons, in particular by those countries which possess the largest arsenals. The EU urged all states to sign and ratify the comprehensive nuclear-test ban treaty without delay and to begin negotiation without preconditions on a fissile material cut-off treaty in the conference on disarmament. The EU also called on all states concerned to take appropriate practical measures in order to reduce the risk of accidental nuclear war.

UN General Assembly: Nuclear Disarmament

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the UK will make a statement at the United Nations General Assembly on  (a) the operating status of nuclear weapons,  (b) renewed determination towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons and  (c) the World Nuclear Weapons convention; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Within the United Nations General Assembly First Committee the UK traditionally makes common statements with our EU partners. Accordingly, the EU delivered a statement in the nuclear weapons debate on 17 October this year. The EU reiterated its support for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament in accordance with article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and stressed the need for an overall reduction of the global stockpile of nuclear weapons, in particular by those countries which possess the largest arsenals. The EU also called on all states concerned to take appropriate practical measures in order to reduce the risk of accidental nuclear war. There are a number of resolutions that will be voted upon during the First Committee that relate to the issues raised. The possibility of the UK delivering a national explanation of vote on some of these resolutions is currently being considered.

Western Sahara

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Government policy on the Western Sahara.

Jim Murphy: The UK regards the status of Western Sahara as undetermined, pending UN efforts to find a solution. To this end, the UK fully supports the efforts of the UN Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy to the Western Sahara, Peter van Walsum, to assist the parties to achieve a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self determination of the people of Western Sahara.
	The UN Security Council adopted UN Security Council Resolution 1754 on 30 April 2007, which extended the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. There are no plans for a referendum to be held in the near future. However, the resolution also called for both sides to enter into negotiations without preconditions. The UK welcomed two rounds of negotiations between the parties, hosted by the UN in Manhasset, New York, on 18-19 June and 10-11 August. A further round of negotiations is due to take place later in the year.